Abstract
This research set out to explore the views and elevate the voices of post-16 students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds regarding the factors they believe facilitated their progression to further education and subsequent aspirations for higher education. The focus on factors facilitating achievement and aspirations are lesser researched and documented within the literature around socioeconomic situation and academic attainment. However, the exploration of facilitative factors may offer important insights into how children and young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds can be better supported in the future to not only close the attainment gap that exists throughout their educative journey, but also to increase the representation of this cohort within higher education.
Given the focus on the voices of young people themselves, a narrative approach was employed, both in the collection of data and in the subsequent analysis of it.
Findings point to the importance of investment in these young people’s education, not simply through financial means as part of widening participation initiatives, but also through teacher-student relationships that foster confidence, inspire aspiration, build skills, and equip students for the management of their own learning.