The Committee was formed to supervise research on the calculation of tertiary entrance scores for students wishing to enroll in a university. An earlier committee established jointly by the Australian National University, the ACT Schools Authority and the Canberra College of Advanced Education had reported in June 1986 on its investigation into whether there was any systematic bias in the calculation of scores for students in the Australian Capital Territory, arising from factors such as gender, subject choice and choice of school. One of its recommendations was for further research to be undertaken and this later Committee was formed to supervise this work.