Introduction


Welcome to the webpages for the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff in Schools research project, run by the Department of Psychology and Human Development at the Institute of Education. The aim of these pages is to give an introduction to the project. 


This is the first large scale study of all categories of support staff. It is a five year study from January 2004 - April 2009, and has obtained data on the deployment and characteristics of Support Staff, the impact of Support Staff on pupil outcomes and teacher workloads, and how impact is affected by school management and communication in the school. It involves three biennial, large scale surveys that analyse changes over time, along with more detailed analysis of the deployment and impact of support staff, in a sub sample of schools.


The project is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Welsh Assembly Government


The most recent phase of the project (Strand 2) examines the impact of support staff on pupil attainment in more detail. Please click here for more information on this part of the project.


The most recent results from the second wave of the research can found on the DCSF website. Please click here to see further details. Also see the Results page for links to further results.