Secondary education has seen a great expansion of pastoral care. This book looks at the history and discourse of pastoral care, including its limits and possibilities, and provides an empirically-based analysis of pastoral care in the comprehensive school. Using case studies, the book explores the tense relationship between the pastoral and the academic dimension, considering whether pastoral interventions empower students or represent more subtle forms of social control. It concludes by assessing the implications of recent reforms for the future of pastoral care within the comprehensive school.