Porous crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) resin beads have been prepared by a two-step pathway involving a pre-crosslinking reaction followed by a reverse suspension crosslinking reaction with epichlorohydrin as crosslinker. The reaction conditions have been optimized for the two steps in order to obtain resins with various pores sizes. The crosslinking density of these resins was calculated from their swelling properties by a modified Flory equation. High loading of hydroxyl groups is one of the important characteristics of these resins (attaining ca. 17 mmol/g). The porosity, pore volume, pore structure and the swelling behavior in water of these resins have been studied. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.