The impact of study support

published:  July 2002

Does studying out of school hours benefit pupils?
For this TLA research summary we selected a research project that explores the effectiveness of different types of study support for pupils in secondary schools. Most of the students involved in the study were in Years 9 to 11 although some data were collected on pupils from Years 7 and 8. The TLA research team believes that the illustrative examples from the case studies provide evidence of good practice in study support that is also potentially transferable into mainstream classroom teaching and learning.

The authors looked at over 50 schools, and their analysis led them to conclude that actually, certain types of study support were more effective in improving pupil performance than others. They also found that study support influenced pupil attitudes, attendance rates and self-esteem as well as attainment. The study examines a wide variety of study support arrangements in different school contexts and offers some helpful insights into the different types of organisation, management and teacher involvement in these out-of-school activities.