The Arts Council has appointed 152 assessors, the “peers” that will scrutinise the work of regularly funded organisations. There had been more than 1,100 applications.

The new assessors, on two year contracts, will report on music, literature, dance, visual arts, theatre and combined arts, including specialisms such as work for children and young people, culturally specific arts and disability-led arts. They will begin reporting next month, and another 148 will be appointed in the autumn to begin work in 2011.

Artistic assessments will feed into the Arts Council’s artistic evaluation of RFOs, providing a basis for informing the Arts Council’s funding decisions. The assessments will be shared with the arts organisations and may provide a useful context for organisations’ own decisions on artistic quality.

Further information about the Artistic Assessment scheme is available at www.artscouncil.org.uk/artistic-assessment.