This study was designed to investigate the effects of the changes suggested in the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (Beazley Report) and the Report of the Ministerial Working Party on School Certification and Tertiary Admissions Procedures (McGaw Report). Special attention was directed to the impact that the reports would have on the continuation or termination of Alternative Upper School (AUS) courses, their integration into normal school timetable and their success in catering to the needs of the types of students taking AUS courses in the past. Case studies were conducted on a number of schools which responded to the Beazley and McGaw recommendations in different ways. These included schools which completely abandoned existing AUS courses, those that kept AUS courses, and schools that partially integrated AUS courses within the normal school timetable. It was found that the new alternatives to AUS courses were not entirely successful in that there was a deterioration in pastoral care and that the most alienated students no longer returned to school at all. In many ways, the most successful compromise appeared to be partial integration of AUS courses into the normal school timetable. A reference list is also provided. (ML)