There is a considerable amount of attention now being given to the Government’s ‘widening participation’ policy. Broadly speaking Higher Education (HE) institutions are expected to reach out to disadvantaged people who come from backgrounds where they would not traditionally be expected to enter HE. Taking this on board and the points raised by in the 2001 Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications (IMA) report to its members highlighting concerns about the “development in and adequate provision of mathematics education” [1] South Bank University (SBU) set up a central mathematics and statistics support service. HE establishments trying to provide education and support on these two fronts face a daunting task. At SBU we have tried to provide and sustain support to address mathematical and statistical concerns.
