The Origins, Development and Evaluation of Mathematics Support Services

This article is an introductory overview of the recent expansion in the development and provision of mathe- matics support services at third level. In the last ten years the establishment of Mathematics Support and Learning Centres has increased significantly in Ireland and the UK. Most third level institutes in Ireland now supply some level of math- ematics support. We will discuss the development of these supports as well as the reasons why third level institutes have decided to introduce them. We also give an overview of how these services are evaluated and the impact that they appear to have on student retention and performance