The Assisted Places Scheme: a policy evaluation

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Abstract
Since 1981 the Assisted Places Scheme (APS), enacted by the 1980 (No. 2) Education Bill, has paid in part or in full the fees of several thousand pupils who are receiving their schooling in the private sector. This article sets out the varying objectives of the scheme and evaluates its impact in terms of: (a) the policy goals of its twin proponents (the independent sector institutions and the Conservative party); (b) the schools ‐‐ both in the maintained and the private sectors; and (c) the social backgrounds of the pupils selected for awards. We contend that the scheme was founded upon inconsistent objectives and that it has at best only partially fulfilled certain of its more critical aims. Most crucially it does not have, and cannot have, the broad political support that would ensure its longevity. Nonetheless the independent sector proclaims the scheme to be ‘a success’ but we suggest the need for more impartial monitoring and associated research. But the demise of the APS would not resolve the wider problem of the relationship between the independent and maintained sectors of schooling. This remains a contentious issue, one that should not be resolved by the secret elite negotiations that spawned the APS.

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