What is being done with the information we have collected so far?
What is being done with the information and what has been found?
Information gathered from the study is being used to help improve services to young people. This section describes some of the things that have been done with the information and some of the findings so far.
We would like to remind you that all your answers are treated as strictly confidential by the Next Steps research team. This means, for example, that no-one at your college, university or workplace, no-one who lives with you and no other Government Department will be able to identify you through what you tell Next Steps. When the results of the study are written up in published reports, it will be impossible to identify you or your family.
Your personal details (such as your name and address) are kept separately from the information you give us and in secure conditions (including encryption) which ensure they cannot be accessed by anyone outside the research team. When we need to transfer data we use an extremely secure on-line method not copying data to media such as disks.
Your personal details will never be passed on to outside organisations, apart from research organisations doing more work for the DfE, DWP or BIS on the Next Steps study who will be legally obliged to keep them confidential.
The DfE are making good use of the data you have provided over the years and you can find many findings from the work completed to date below. For newly published work please go to the DfE website. All research that the DfE produce is published and can be found on their website (www.education.gov.uk). Please note that the Next Steps study is also known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), so if you find a report or piece of research which uses LSYPE data, it’s your information that has helped to produce it.
Published reports using Next Steps data
- A review of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England: This report, published shortly after the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review explores just how successful the Next Steps study has been, to see if there are any lessons to be learned for a future study and to test if it is worthwhile setting up a new similar study with a new cohort (Next Steps is also known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England). The full report can be accessed here: http://publications.education.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DFE-RR048&
- Community Cohesion and Young People: Published in September 2010. Little is currently known about what factors help explain variation in cohesion (at both local and societal levels) among young people. This report helps fill this gap in understanding, it aims to identify the factors that are associated with cohesion and broaden our understanding of how these factors vary for different groups of young people. The full report can be accessed here:
http://publications.education.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RB033.pdf
- National Statistics Bulletin: since 2008, findings from the Next Steps study along with findings from a similar study called Pathways, have been used in a National Statistics Bulletin. On 22nd July 2010, the DfE published its most recent Bulletin which included the very first analysis from the sixth round of interviews. A selection of findings can be found below and the full publication can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000937/b01-2010v2.pdf
- Characteristics of Bullying Victims: this report was published in July 2010 and aimed to increase DfE’s understanding of the victims of bullying. It explored the characteristics of young people who reported being bullied in their last three years of compulsory education, which types of bullying they experienced, how bullying (and its frequency) changed over time and what happens to victims after they leave school. Findings from this work fed into the DfE 2009 Anti-Bullying week and a copy of the final report can be accessed here:
http://publications.education.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DFE-RR001
- The Role of Information, Advice and Guidance in Young People’s Education and Employment Choices: this study, published in July 2010, investigated the role of careers education and information, advice and guidance, their impact on young people’s attitudes to school and their post-16 activities. The full report can be accessed here:
http://publications.education.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR019.pdf
- Alcohol consumption and its relationship to outcomes and other behaviours: This study, published in June 2010, explores alcohol consumption among young people aged 14-17. It is well known that alcohol consumption among young people is linked to a range of negative outcomes (such as lower educational attainment, smoking and criminal behaviour, increased risk of drug and alcohol dependency and poorer mental and physical health). This research builds on this knowledge by exploring which factors are the most important drivers of alcohol consumption, as well as examining how drinking is related to other behaviours and what the causal links between these behaviours might be. The study also explores relationships between alcohol consumption and educational outcomes among young people at the age of 16/17. For a copy of this report please follow this link:
http://www.natcen.ac.uk/study/young-people--alcohol
- Risky Behaviours and Social Activities: We’ve used Next Steps data to examine risk related behaviours (such as drinking alcohol, smoking and taking drugs) which young people can become involved in, and how these relate to other social activities, so we know how to tackle such issues better in the future. For further information on this project please go to:
http://www.natcen.ac.uk/study/risky-behaviour-and-social-attitudes
Other Departments
It’s not just the DfE who use the data within Government; other Departments use it too.
DfE and the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
In December 2009, two reports were jointly published by DfE and Defra which provide a greater insight into whether the apparent advantages of rural life are in fact real for rural people generally, or are in fact denied to certain sectors of the rural population.
The first project investigates the effects of rurality on attainment up to the end of compulsory education (age 16). Looking at raw attainment scores, pupils living in rural areas tend to have higher secondary school attainment than those living in urban areas, suggesting that there may be intrinsic benefits of living in rural areas for young people. However, there is widespread regional variation in rural attainment and pupils living in some affluent rural areas do not have the high attainment that would be expected. Copies of the report can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/documents/living/ed-attainment.pdf
The second project investigates the post-16 educational choices made in rural areas, utilising both the Next Steps study and the Pathways study. Little is currently known about the influence of living in a rural location on the decision to participate in post-compulsory education. This study documents the difference in post-16 participation rates between rural and urban areas and determines the extent to which such differences can be explained by differences in characteristics of the two types of areas and the people who live there. Copies of the report can be obtained at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/documents/living/post16ed.pdf
BIS
BIS work published in September 2009 examines attitudes and intentions towards Higher Education, preferences for subjects/study modes and other aspects. Some of these factors are examined by socio-economic and ethnic group. The report can be accessed via: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/report.php?id=bis_rp_003
To learn more about some of the findings from the study please click the headings below
Here you can find a selection of findings from the study so far. We will update this section in future to reflect the findings from the study and the ways in which we are using the information you gave us.
Findings from the 6th wave of the study (2009)
A third of you were in some form of employment in 2009. The following chart shows the areas of work you were in and as you can see ‘Wholesale retail and trade’ was the area which most commonly employed males and females. However, a difference occurs with the second most common areas when split by gender; females were much more likely to work in ‘Human health and social work’ whereas males were more likely to be in ‘Construction’.
Industry of employment at age 18 by gender
7% of you were on an Apprenticeship in 2009 and we asked you about your experiences of the training so far. The vast majority were very pleased about the training; 87% of apprentices thought that the quality of training they received was either very good or good; 83% thought the extent to which the course was meeting their expectations was very good or good, and a smaller proportion of apprentices (54%) were happy with the pay they received. When apprentices were asked about what improvements could be made to their Apprenticeship, 30% stated their pay.
Opinions on Apprenticeships
Some young people had taken (or were taking) a gap year when we spoke to you back in 2009. The chart below shows the types of activities that you had been doing during your gap year according to your parents’ occupational background. The activity where there is most variation is in travelling, with young people from the professional backgrounds being much more likely to travel than those from lower supervisory or routine backgrounds.
Activities undertaken whilst on a gap year at age 18
In total 45% of you had started in Higher Education by the time you were interviewed in 2009. The chart below shows the different subjects you were studying split by gender. As you can see ‘Education’ was the subject area which was most heavily dominated with females (89% of those studying this subject were female and 11% males). The subject area most heavily dominated by males was ‘Engineering and technologies’ (of all those studying this subject area 84% were males and only 16% were females).
HE subject studied by gender
Those of you who were not in education, employment or training in 2009 were asked about the reasons for not being in work (a total of 15% of the cohort). For males the most frequently cited reason for not finding employment was a lack of relevant experience (27%), followed by a lack of qualifications (25%). In contrast, females the biggest concern was the need to work very flexible hours (20%) followed by a lack of relevant experience (16%), as the chart below shows.
Main reason given by those not in education, employment or training for being unable to find work, at age 18
The sixth interview for the Next Steps study saw us asking about sexual activities and practices for the very first time and we are really pleased that so many of you agreed to answer these sensitive questions. Female respondents were asked about any pregnancies that they may have had and the results of them. You may have seen some of the findings reported in the press- the original findings on which these articles were based can be found below and in the DfE National Statistics Bulletin (link above).As you can see, 15% of females by the age of 18 had been pregnant at least once.
Instance of pregnancy by age 18
Findings from the 5th wave of the study (2008)
Feelings about Britain (Click to show/hide)
Likelihood of voting in the General Election (Click to show/hide)
Findings from the 4th wave of the study (2007)
What you ended up doing after Year 11 (Click to show/hide)
Findings from the 3rd wave of the study (2006)
Favourite subjects for those hoping to go to university (Click to show/hide)
Your Health (Click to show/hide)
Caring responsibilities (Click to show/hide)
Findings from the 1st wave of the study (2004)
Using Computers (Click to show/hide)
Relationships with parents (Click to show/hide)
Ways in which young people spend their free time (Click to show/hide)
What you think about other things (Click to show/hide)
Addition of examination results
If you were ever at a state school, information about your examination results will be added to your answers from something called the National Pupil Database (NPD). The NPD is made up mainly of information the Department for Education collect from state schools every year. We do this so we don’t have to ask you so many questions about exams you have done in the past, which helps to make the interview shorter for you.
If you were at an independent (‘private’) school (or were attending one when you took your GCSEs), and have never attended a maintained secondary school, then the Department for Education will link your answers to a database which contains only examination results such as GCSEs and A-Levels. This is so we don’t have to ask you about your results.
Even though you have now left school, most of you will not have left learning. Where the Department for Education or/and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has information on any courses you may be doing, these may also be added to your answers so we don’t have to ask as many questions.
