The Bramshill Scholar: Aim Assessment
| Author | Colin Smith |
| Published date | 01 April 1978 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7805100203 |
| Date | 01 April 1978 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
COLIN
SMITH,
B.SOC.,
SC.
Assistant ChiefConstable, Thames Valley Police
THE BRAMSHILL SCHOLAR:
AN ASSESSMENT
"Perhaps the most significant absentees from the chief officers' ranks are
Bramshill Scholars
...
none have yet attained either chief or deputy chief.
Only two officers have attained A.C.C
....
Even when allowances are made
for the argument that officers, who spend three years away from the Police
Service at university, have three years' experience to catch up on, it does
appear that the Service is not receiving the return which it ought from the
not unsubstantial financial investment in Bramshill Scholars."l
This comment was written in the "Police Review" earlier this year,
but nothing was said to justify the implied criticism of Scholars for
their failure to make a "breakthrough" into chief officer ranks, nor
did it indicate whether the blame should lie with the Service, the
Scheme or the Scholars. However, it did say there was a need for
"further investigation", and the intention in this paper is to look
first at the facts in some detail, and then to analyse the available
evidence in an attempt to assess whether the Scheme so far has been
a"success" or "failure", and, where possible, to discover why.
INTRODUCTION
The "Bramshill Scholarship Scheme", as it is now known, began
in 1964, but its growth was very much an ad hoc and unformulated
progression rather than a pre-planned, publicly-discussed and well-
documented launching. Any researcher will hunt in vain for its
"constitution", and possibly much of the criticism within the
Service of the Scheme is through ignorance, which for once is not
the fault of the critics alone. On the other hand, many feel the
Scheme owes much of its success to the absence of too many formal
rules and restrictions during its early development. P. J. Stead, the
then Dean of Academic Studies at the Police College, was mainly
responsible for the inspiration and effort behind the creation and
early operation of the Scheme, but also closely involved were
Messrs K. A. L. Parker, N. F. Cairncross and P. J. Woodfield of
the Home Office, Prof. G. W. Keeton and Dr. B. Hargrove of
University College, London, and the then Commandant at Bramshill,
S. Lawrence.
The most detailed explanation of the principles on which the
Scheme was founded are contained in the "Minutes of the Police
1"Police Review" - 28 January 1977, p. 94.
April 1978 136
Council Committee on Higher Training".
From
there it will be seen
that:
(i) The Scheme owes a great debt to the close
and
mutually
respectful relationships between the Police College and
University College, London;
(ii) Senior officials at the Home Office vigorously supported the
Scheme;
(iii) The forces who were going to pay for the Scheme were not
consulted about its creation except through Police Council
representatives;
(iv) Although called "Bramshill Scholarships", the College merely
facilitates the early stages of selection, it neither pays a
monetary grant nor actively involves itself in any follow-up;
(v)
It
was intended orginally that only Special Course students
should be eligible, to guarantee academic capacity and pro-
fessional potential;
(vi) The Scheme was to be expanded to other universities and
colleges, and embrace subjects other than law;
(vii) A year should elapse between completion of the College
course and starting at university, to allow for operational
experience;
(viii) Each officer should return to normal duty for three-quarters
of each
of
his summer vacations at university;
(ix) Preferably officers should be young enough to take a full
part in university life (no age was suggested);
(x) There was no point in obtaining an undertaking from officers
that they would return to their forces at the end of their
university courses;
(xi)
It
was hoped the Scheme might attract a higher proportion
of recruits with good educational standing,
and
more
graduates, into the Service;
(xii) The next step should be to consider how officers could go to
university much earlier in their service;
and
(xiii) Those selected should be likely later in their careers to be fit to
assume the highest posts in the Service.
It
is not intend in this paper to justify the need to the Service,
nor the benefits gained by the Service, of university training for
some of its officers as this has been well argued elsewhere. Instead
an analysis will be made of the progress of the Scheme, an assess-
ment of its "success" in isolation,
and
then a comparison between
the "success" of its Scholars and other officers who (1) have obtained
degrees through force schemes, (2) have joined through the Graduate
Entry Scheme, (3) have gained degrees by other means, (4) are
Special Course students
but
not Scholars,
and
(5) have gained
"normal" promotions within selected forces. In addition, the financ-
ing of the Scheme will be looked at briefly, followed by an analysis
131 April 1918
of
resignations of Scholars from the Service. And lastly, the question
will be asked whether the Scheme has a future and if so what form
it should take.
The limitations
of
this paper should also be stressed because they
are significant in some aspects. In any research involving the
measurement
of
individual merit or achievement, there are the
dilemmas
of
judging objectively matters which are largely sub-
jective in practical operation, and trying to compare results which
each have so many, varied and unique constituent elements.
It
is
made harder because very often the numbers being used are so few
that
small variations can change the conclusions significantly. The
problem with a larger survey on this subject could be
that
the con-
clusions would be either so general or so qualified they would be
totally useless. In addition, the Scheme is still comparatively young,
so the apparent trends may be merely transitional. However, it has
been running for twelve years, and if it is possible to raise a few
questions or doubts at this stage in its development, it may be
possible to make minor alterations in direction either before too
much harm is done or to increase even further the benefits available
to the Service through the Scheme.
PROGRESS
OF
THE
SCHEME
Numbers. One of the most disheartening discoveries during the
research for this paper was
that
no reliable and comprehensive
records
about
the Scheme existed anywhere, due mainly to the fact
that
nobody appeared to feel they
had
overall responsibility for the
Scheme. Witih this in mind, many of the attached appendices are
detailed in their content, and contain many facts and trends which
have not been pursued here.
The Scheme commenced in 1964 with three Scholars entering
University College, London, to read law. Since then the steady
growth in the numbers of Scholarships granted annually had risen
to 31 by last year, and in the universities and colleges now participat-
ing which is currently 45.2The total number of Scholarships awarded
is 246.3This includes the award of an MA course to an earlier first
degree Scholar,
but
does
not
include two 1976 Scholars who with-
drew during their first year at university to return to their forces.
Atotal of five Scholarships have been for one year MA courses,
and one in 1974 for a one year diploma course; this means 240
Scholars have been given, and taken, the opportunity to gain a first
honours degree by full-time study at university.
Of
the 245 Scholars, 21 have resigned or retired,
and
so far 136
have graduated and are still serving (this figure includes two officers
whose first Scholarship was an MA). Much of the later analysis will
2See Appendix 2.
3See Appendix 3.
April 1978 138
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