Judith Ireson is currently Reader in Psychology and Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, where she directs funded research, supervises research students and teaches Graduate Diploma and Masters courses in Psychology of Education. She has a longstanding interest in relationships between social contexts and individual learning and development and has explored these in diverse settings such as ability grouping in schools, individual tutoring in and out of school and with children who experience difficulties in learning. She has an international reputation for her research on ability grouping in schools, which attracted funding from ESRC, DfES and the Nuffield Foundation. She has published widely including chapters in books, articles in academic journals, numerous end of award reports to research councils and charities including a research report for circulation to school managers in all secondary schools (DfEE, 1999), articles in practitioner journals, a training pack for use in primary schools (Institute of Education, 1989) and a study guide for students taking psychology of education courses at a distance (University of London, 1993,1999).