Young Londoners optimistic about their futures

London Councils commissioned Ipsos to undertake a piece of research with Key Stage 4 pupils (aged 14-16) to investigate aspirations in young people.

London Councils commissioned Ipsos to undertake a piece of qualitative and quantitative research with Key Stage 4 pupils (aged 14-16) to investigate aspirations in young people. The research finds that most young people are optimistic about their future; more than four in five (82%) pupils say that they feel positive about their future after Year 11. The one in ten (11%) who say they feel not very, or not at all positive about their future, however, highlight the need for greater support.

Other key findings include:

  • Three quarters (75%) of pupils say they have thought a lot or a fair amount about what they will do after Year 11. A levels are the most popular option (75%), followed by getting a part-time job (53%), a diploma or other course (39%) or an apprenticeship (23%).
  • Familiarity with the options available to pupils after Year 11 is perhaps not as high as it should be. Whilst two thirds (66%) of pupils say they know at least a fair amount about the different things they could do after Year 11, a third (31%) say they know a little or nothing at all.
  • The160qualitative research suggests that young people would value information from people who have recently experienced further education. They do not always trust teachers or careers to offer them impartial advice and also feel that times have changed since their parents were in education, which means they don't necessarily know the options available.
  • Around seven in ten (71%) pupils feel that their teachers are supporting them to stay on in education or training after Year 11. A similar proportion (69%) of pupils agree that the government wants young people to stay in education/training after Year 11.
  • Pupils identify a number of different aspects to success in life, such as: "making money"; "being a celebrity"; "having a family"; and "having a job you want to do". Underpinning this understanding of success is both a personal sense of achievement and also that others recognise and respect you for it. However, notions of success at school are much more limited and tend to be focused around high achievement in exams.
  • Among pupils who are not very confident in getting the exam results they want at the end of Year 11, the most commonly cited reasons pupils give are: I don't think I work as hard as I could (57%); I get distracted by my friends (44%); I get distracted at home (35%); my lessons are boring (35%); and I don't feel supported by my teachers (19%).
  • Three in ten (30%) pupils say they have `bunked off' school. The most common reasons for this are that pupils don't like their teachers (40%), they do not enjoy school (37%), thinking that bunking off is more fun than school (30%), to avoid getting into trouble (21%) and because their friends bunk off (18%).

Download the full report: Youth Aspirations in London160 Download the full computer data tables (PDF)

Technical details

Fieldwork took place in schools in London, with the sample randomly selected from edubase between 10 November 2009 and 22 January 2010. Interviewing was carried out through self-completion questionnaires. The total number of completed questionnaires is 1,393 (1,288 from secondary schools and 105 from PRUs). Data are weighted by school type (maintained secondary school/PRU), gender, year group and ethnicity. The weights were derived from data supplied by the Department for Education. Ten qualitative discussion groups were carried out from 3 December 2009 - 7 January 2010. A Year 10 and Year 11 group were conducted in four mainstream schools, one in an area of low IMD (relatively affluent) and the other three in areas of high IMD (relatively deprived). Two Year 10 groups were also conduced in a Pupil Referral Unit (due to the structure of the PRU).

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