Expanding Study Support Nationally: Implications from an evaluation of the East Middlesborough Education Action Zone's programme

Study support will be expanded across the UK during the early years of the new century. It has become a central feature of the drive to increase pupil attainment and develop confident and socially able young people. This paper reports the rise of study support from an optional extra to key government strategy for school improvement. It then briefly outlines the findings from an evaluation of a recently developed study support programme funded by East Middlesbrough Education Action Zone and lists implications for the expansion of study support nationally which can be gleaned from the developments in Middlesbrough. In particular, despite the existence of a national framework for study support, it points to concerns resulting from its management being located at the school level. Most notably, a lack of monitoring and evaluation. The paper refers to the purpose of study support and highlights the pitfalls of moves to align it more closely with schools' quantifiable targets. The paper also alludes to wider concerns about the conceptualisation of educational disadvantage and suggests that the expansion of study support may not 'extend opportunity' and be as inclusive as advocates hope.