The National Foundation for Educational Research has recently released a report examining how young people make choices at 14 and 16.
Written by Sarah Blenkinsop, Tamaris McCrone, Pauline Wade and Marian Morris, the report highlights some significant findings that are of interest to guidance professionals.
Key Findings
o Schools can make a difference to how young people make decisions. The research shows a link between schools which appeared to be effective in relation to curriculum management, student support, staff expectations and school leadership, and the young people who were making the most rational, thought-through decisions, and who remained happy with their choices six months later.
o When students felt supported in decision-making by the school they were more influenced by school factors (such as individual talks with teachers and the careers education and guidance provision) and less reliant on external factors such as friends and family.
o Young people valued having sufficient time to make choices, the opportunity to have individual conversations with teachers to discuss their options, and detailed, clear and impartial information on courses and pathways so that they could make informed choices. Evidence shows that teachers in 11-18 schools sometimes lacked impartiality by encouraging students to stay at their school sixth forms.
o Young people made decisions in different ways. The quality of their decisions seemed to vary according to context (including the curriculum offer and support mechanisms in place to support them in decision making), the ways in which information and advice was being mediated to them, and their own individual approach to and skills of decision-making.
o Young people brought different mindsets to the decision-making process, and made decisions differently across and within schools. Their decisions had also often fluctuated over time, even amongst students who had at first appeared very decided about their choices. These issues suggest that any single approach to support will not work for all young people and that all individuals need varying levels and type of support at different stages in their school careers.
o Few young people, particularly at age 14, made the link between careers education and guidance activities and the actual personal decisions they were making, suggesting the need for schools to make such links more explicit.
o There was evidence that external provision of vocational courses was being reduced, with a preference for courses being taught by staff in schools. This highlights the need for such staff to be appropriately trained so that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver vocational courses.
o Vocational qualifications were not always recognised in the same way as 'academic' qualifications for entry to A Level courses, leading to restricted student choice in some areas. This is important given that vocational courses are compulsory in some schools.
You can view the full report on http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR773.pdf | 
