What is the study and why is it carried out?

What is Next Steps and why is it important?

Next Steps is one of the biggest and most important studies of young people ever; not just in England but anywhere in the world. The research follows a large number of young people through education and beyond to find out about their experiences and their views.

The government provides many services for young people at sizeable cost to taxpayers and needs to know if these are working properly, what they are doing well, what they need to do better and what changes young people themselves are interested in seeing. The information from Next Steps is used for this and helps bring about better schools, colleges and services for all young people.

Many surveys give a one off snap shot view of how someone is at the moment they are interviewed. Next Steps is different. It is what is known as a ‘longitudinal’ study, these follow people’s lives over a number of years and see how changes occur – giving a fascinating and dynamic picture.

Who do we talk to?

In previous years we have talked to both you and a parent or guardian where ever possible. Interviews were carried out in your home, by an interviewer, who recorded the answers in a laptop. The interview was made up of three sections:

• Part 1 a section about your ‘household’ i.e. the people you live with: In the past this section has usually involved talking to a parent or guardian.
• Part 2, where we talk to you. This is the main part and it usually included a section that you completed by yourself on the laptop.
• Part 3, where we talked to your parents or guardians, up to now we have done this throughout the study.

This year, however, we will be talking just to you.

What do we talk to you about?

Next Steps asks about a wide range of things. Some topics in the past have been:

• What you think about school and higher education
• The subjects you study at school and college
• Government support such as the Education Maintenance Allowance
• Apprenticeships and training schemes
• The work that you do
• What you like doing in your spare time
• What your plans are for the future
• Your ambitions
• Your health

In addition, the study also collects information about you and who you live with. This is for statistical reasons to enable us to compare different kinds of families and households.

How long has the study been running and what stage are we at now?

The Next Steps study started back in 2004 (Wave 1) when more than15,000 interviews were conducted with young people in Year 9 and their parents. Since then we will have spoken to you and your parents again each year (in 2005, Wave 2, in 2006, Wave 3, last year was Wave 4 and this year will be Wave 5).

This year’s Next Steps is being planned at the moment and there will be quite a lot of changes from previous years, please see ‘Coming up this year’ for more details.