ACE was founded in London in 1960 by Michael Young, Lord Young of Dartington, a prolific voluntary sector entrepreneur, and Brian Jackson, a respected and influential sociologist of education.
The organisation moved to Cambridge in the late 60s to a '£1 a week room in the backstreets of Cambridge'.
Michael's wife, Sasha was the first editor of Where?, as ACE's magazine was then called. It built on the striking success of Which? magazine, which gave a a helpful puff to its education sister.
ACE's advice line has always been more than an information service for parents. Since it was first introduced, it has acted as an early warning system, monitoring the impact of policy on the provision of education and the workings of the system.
Even in the earliest days, the open door advice service was seen as having an information gathering function. What was read in the education papers on a Friday, ACE had been aware of for six months already.
Throughout its history, ACE has engaged in a variety of voluntary sector developmental initiatives and educational projects. ACE took a view that there were serious gaps in educational provision and the meeting of particular needs, and wanted to demonstrate how these could be filled with innovative projects.
Examples of the projects that were established included:
- The Technical College Clearing House
- The Home and School Council
- The ACE Nursery School
- The Association of Multi-Racial Playgroups
- The National Extension College
- Advice Service for Ugandan Refugees
- The Priority Project (Education priority areas)
Some of these projects and initiatives later evolved into well established institutions, the Open University being one of the most famous examples.
