diff --git a/django/test/client.py b/django/test/client.py
index 6e0b443f83..f66b180867 100644
--- a/django/test/client.py
+++ b/django/test/client.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from cStringIO import StringIO
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.handlers.base import BaseHandler
 from django.core.handlers.wsgi import WSGIRequest
 from django.dispatch import dispatcher
@@ -97,7 +98,8 @@ class Client:
     def __init__(self, **defaults):
         self.handler = ClientHandler()
         self.defaults = defaults
-        self.cookie = SimpleCookie()
+        self.cookies = SimpleCookie()
+        self.session = {}
 
     def request(self, **request):
         """
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@ class Client:
         """
 
         environ = {
-            'HTTP_COOKIE':      self.cookie,
+            'HTTP_COOKIE':      self.cookies,
             'PATH_INFO':         '/',
             'QUERY_STRING':      '',
             'REQUEST_METHOD':    'GET',
@@ -141,8 +143,14 @@ class Client:
                 setattr(response, detail, None)
 
         if response.cookies:
-            self.cookie.update(response.cookies)
+            self.cookies.update(response.cookies)
 
+        if 'django.contrib.sessions' in settings.INSTALLED_APPS:
+            from django.contrib.sessions.middleware import SessionWrapper
+            cookie = self.cookies.get(settings.SESSION_COOKIE_NAME, None)
+            if cookie:
+                self.session = SessionWrapper(cookie.value)
+            
         return response
 
     def get(self, path, data={}, **extra):
diff --git a/docs/testing.txt b/docs/testing.txt
index e7c1a3b161..9906749723 100644
--- a/docs/testing.txt
+++ b/docs/testing.txt
@@ -198,11 +198,6 @@ used as test conditions.
 .. _Twill: http://twill.idyll.org/
 .. _Selenium: http://www.openqa.org/selenium/
 
-The Test Client is stateful; if a cookie is returned as part of a response,
-that cookie is provided as part of the next request issued to that Client
-instance. Expiry policies for these cookies are not followed; if you want 
-a cookie to expire, either delete it manually from ``client.cookies``, or 
-create a new Client instance (which will effectively delete all cookies).
 
 Making requests
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -296,6 +291,33 @@ for testing purposes:
 
 .. _RFC2616: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html
 
+Persistent state
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The Test Client is stateful; if a cookie is returned as part of a response,
+that cookie is provided as part of the next request issued by that Client
+instance. Expiry policies for these cookies are not followed; if you want 
+a cookie to expire, either delete it manually or create a new Client 
+instance (which will effectively delete all cookies).
+
+There are two properties of the Test Client which are used to store persistent
+state information. If necessary, these properties can be interrogated as
+part of a test condition.
+
+    ===============  ==========================================================
+    Property         Description
+    ===============  ==========================================================
+    ``cookies``      A Python ``SimpleCookie`` object, containing the current
+                     values of all the client cookies.
+
+    ``session``      A dictionary-like object containing session information.
+                     See the `session documentation`_ for full details.
+
+.. _`session documentation`: ../sessions/
+                     
+Example
+~~~~~~~
+
 The following is a simple unit test using the Test Client::
     
     import unittest
diff --git a/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py b/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
index c5b1a241ca..b6c3fbd5b1 100644
--- a/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
+++ b/tests/modeltests/test_client/models.py
@@ -99,3 +99,19 @@ class ClientTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         response = self.client.login('/test_client/login_protected_view/', 'otheruser', 'nopassword')
         self.assertFalse(response)
+
+    def test_session_modifying_view(self):
+        "Request a page that modifies the session"
+        # Session value isn't set initially
+        try:
+            self.client.session['tobacconist']
+            self.fail("Shouldn't have a session value")
+        except KeyError:
+            pass
+        
+        from django.contrib.sessions.models import Session
+        response = self.client.post('/test_client/session_view/')
+        
+        # Check that the session was modified
+        self.assertEquals(self.client.session['tobacconist'], 'hovercraft')
+        
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/modeltests/test_client/urls.py b/tests/modeltests/test_client/urls.py
index 09bba5c007..5c77260c92 100644
--- a/tests/modeltests/test_client/urls.py
+++ b/tests/modeltests/test_client/urls.py
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@ urlpatterns = patterns('',
     (r'^post_view/$', views.post_view),
     (r'^redirect_view/$', views.redirect_view),
     (r'^login_protected_view/$', views.login_protected_view),
+    (r'^session_view/$', views.session_view)
 )
diff --git a/tests/modeltests/test_client/views.py b/tests/modeltests/test_client/views.py
index 7acfc2db60..406a814dec 100644
--- a/tests/modeltests/test_client/views.py
+++ b/tests/modeltests/test_client/views.py
@@ -32,4 +32,15 @@ def login_protected_view(request):
     c = Context({'user': request.user})
     
     return HttpResponse(t.render(c))
-login_protected_view = login_required(login_protected_view)
\ No newline at end of file
+login_protected_view = login_required(login_protected_view)
+
+def session_view(request):
+    "A view that modifies the session"
+    
+    request.session['tobacconist'] = 'hovercraft'
+    
+    t = Template('This is a view that modifies the session.', 
+                 name='Session Modifying View Template')
+    c = Context()
+    return HttpResponse(t.render(c))
+    
\ No newline at end of file