Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Youth Cohort Study (YCS) is a major programme of longitudinal research designed to monitor the behaviour and decisions of representative samples of young people aged sixteen upwards as they make the transition from compulsory education to further or higher education, or to the labour market. It tries to identify and explain the factors which influence post-16 transitions, for example, educational attainment, training opportunities, experiences at school. To date the YCS covers thirteen cohorts and over forty surveys. The first cohort was first surveyed in 1985 and the thirteenth in 2007. The questionnaires have been designed, over the years, to be broadly comparable, but external changes and shifts in policy interest have brought about changes - some minor, some fundamental. Cohorts One to Twelve cover England and Wales but a change to the methodology means that from Cohort Thirteen, data cover England only. For further details of the methodology and coverage, see the documentation. The UK Data Archive currently holds data for the cohorts listed below:Cohort One (SN 3093) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1983-84Cohort Two (SN 3094) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1984-85Cohort Three (SN 3012) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1985-86Cohort Four (SN 3107) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1987-88Cohort Five (SN 3531) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1989-90Cohort Six (SN 3532) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1990-91Cohort Seven (SN 3533) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1992-93Cohort Eight (SN 3805) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1995-96Cohort Nine (SN 4009) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1996-97Cohort Ten (SN 4571) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 1998-99Cohort Eleven (SN 5452) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 2000-01Cohort Twelve (SN 5830) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 2002-03Cohort Thirteen (SN 6024) surveyed those eligible to leave school in 2005-06Some teaching materials using the data from Cohort Three have been developed. Details are available from the Teaching Resources and Materials for Social Scientists (TRAMSS) website.

Main Topics:

Sweep One The questionnaire for Sweep One included the following information: GCSE and other qualification attainment in Year 11; participation in full-time education, government supported training and the labour market; experiences of Year 11 and leaving education; contact with the Careers Service; work experience; truancy. classificatory variables include gender, socio-economic grade of parents, household composition, region, ethnicity and disability. Sweep Two Sweep Two, conducted later in the same year, includes the following information: current activities of young people; education, training and labour market activities engaged in; routes respondents have taken through education, training and the labour market since previous sweeps; qualifications gained and courses entered but not completed since the previous sweep, and qualifications currently sought. All cohort members who had not yet achieved Level 2 qualifications (5 GCSEs at grades A* to C or equivalents) by the end of Year 11 received the core questionnaire and the 'options and choices' module, which covered: expected activities in 12 months' time; expected activities at age of 21; qualifications/job experience needed to attain expected activity by age of 21; worries associated with continuing in education; prospects/training from current employer; difficulties finding suitable work in local area; advice and guidance; parents and families. All cohort members who had achieved Level 2 qualifications by the end of Year 11 received the core questionnaire and the 'Higher Education' (HE) module, covering: whether respondent applied for HE; gap years; decisions about HE; reasons for not applying for HE; sources of information/advice about HE; background factors surrounding HE decision. Sweep Three Sweep Three, conducted in 2002, included a postal questionnaire which aimed to: record current activities of young people and identify all education, training and labour market activities engaged in; track the routes respondents have taken through education, training and the labour market since previous sweeps; record all qualifications gained and courses entered but not completed since the previous sweep and qualifications currently being studied. The questionnaire structure was therefore as follows: views about work and education respondents current activities / activities since January 2001 qualifications obtained since January 2001 full-time education part-time education qualifications being studied for now jobs and training work, earnings and looking for work on-the-job and off-the job training household details contact details - including the collection of an email address for the first time. Most of the questions in the postal questionnaire had been included in previous YCS surveys. All cohort members who had had achieved Level 2 qualifications by the end of Year 11 and who had responded to the 'Higher Education' (HE) telephone module at Sweep Two were asked the additional HE module. This module covered: entry routes and changes of plan since C10S2 (all currently in HE); current experiences / difficulties of HE and information available (All currently in HE); student finances (all currently in HE); career plans and HE (all currently in HE); not in HE – future likelihood and current activities (all currently in HE); Gap Years (all on a Gap Year); likelihood of future HE entry and attitudes towards HE (all currently in HE).

Simple random sample

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Multi-stage stratified random sampling was used for Cohorts One-Five, but the YCS sample has been a single-stage simple random sample since Cohort Six (see Courtenay, G. The YCS - the first ten years). In spring of the sampling year all schools in England and Wales (excluding special schools), both state maintained and private sector, are sent a return form for sampling. This gives a number of dates, e.g. the 5th, 15th and 25th, and all pupils on the Year 11 roll whose birth dates coincide are sampled. Usually three dates are specified giving a simple random sample of just under 10%. Occasionally more dates are given, either to draw a larger sample overall or only in specific geographical areas where the Principal Investigators wish to over-sample, e.g. the sampling for Cohort Eleven specified three dates for most schools but four dates for schools in LEAs with a high proportion of pupils in ethnic minorities. There are some difficulties with school-level non-response at the sampling stage and to compensate for this there is a further stage of sampling before Sweep One. Here the initial sample is sub-sampled to give a Sweep One final sample that is representative of a population matrix of pupil numbers by school type by sex by region.

Telephone interview

Postal survey