Social Mobility: The Next Generation - Stories from the Class of 2023

Stories from the Class of 2023 7 Key differences and similarities depending on the socio-economic background of high attainers Differences Similarities • Overall, the major areas in which • Regardless of socio-economic socio-economic background drove background, young high attainers differences in young people’s also shared similarities such as the experiences were the quality of importance of rel. [...] From the perspective of young people interviewed, educational quality was defined on the basis of level of staff turnover, availability of adequate numbers of teachers, overall quality of teaching, and specifically, the quality of online teaching during the pandemic. [...] "I think from year 9 to year 11, I had a lot of substitute teachers in my science subjects so we didn’t actually have a proper teacher." - Disadvantaged participant studying for A-levels Quality of teaching: From the perspective of the young people interviewed, the most important factor in defining the quality of their education was the quality of teaching. [...] While the direct experience of the COVID-19 pandemic shaped life and school experiences, the cancellation of GCSE exams within this context was felt to have had the greatest impact on plans and aspirations for the future. [...] For example, one high attainer described how the death of their grandparent at the start of college disrupted their sense of security and led them to question dropping out of college due to discomfort and a lack of motivation.