The Chorister Outreach Programme of the Choir Schools Association: A Research Evaluation (2008-2011)

Under the umbrella of the National Singing Programme, one major strand was the Chorister Outreach Programme (COP) that was funded by the Government at £1m per year from the Autumn of 2007 through to the Summer of 2010. The programme was designed to enable ‘professional children’s choirs to work creatively with primary school children in their local area’. The programme was overseen by the Choir Schools Association (CSA), usually in partnership with the local music service and Sing Up team, and was open to all their members, as well as other professional choirs with choristers that were connected to a religious establishment. As part of the evaluation of the programme, a research team from the Institute of Education were appointed to undertake a structured research evaluation of certain features of the programme in the academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, with a follow-up in 2010-2011.