Social origin and social context inequalities in post-16 educational pathways

At age 16, young people in England make important decisions about their educational pathways. The ‘academic pathway’ is the result of enrolling in A level qualifications, which are typically necessary for admission to undergraduate education. Within the academic pathway, evidence suggests that a young persons’ A level subject choices additionally shape their access to the selective universities. To date, there is little evidence on trends in the participation of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in these ‘academic tracks’ in the English education system. In this paper, we provide new evidence using data from three cohorts across 15 years: the Next Steps study, Millennium Cohort Study and COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities study. We focus on tracking levels of inequalities in whether to engage in academic pathways based on social origin (family background) and social context (social deprivation by geography). Results provide little evidence of change in the proportion of low socioeconomic status young people studying for A level qualifications, or in the reduction of inequalities in those studying for high return subjects. There is, however, consistent indication that social origin is more predictive of decisions made at age 16 than social context. Further research will engage with the historical contexts of these cohort studies (i.e., the raising of the participation age) to understand the impact of specific policies regarding socioeconomic inequalities in education pathways.