The Transition Year experience: student perceptions and school variation (2019)

Report by Aidan Clerkin

Summary

This report presents findings from a three-year, three-wave longitudinal study of students’ experiences and perceptions of Transition Year (TY) and associated socioemotional outcomes. Some aspects of the study have been reported elsewhere (Clerkin, 2016, 2018a, 2018c, 2019). The current report focuses especially on the student voice: what students know and think about TY while in Third Year, such as the parts of TY that would attract them and those that would deter; what they report from their experience as participants during TY; and how they view TY in retrospect from a more senior vantage point in Fifth Year and Sixth Year. A wide range of viewpoints is represented, including students who opted to take part in TY, students who took part in a compulsory TY, and students who chose to skip the programme entirely. The nature and extent of variation in students’ TY experience between schools is also considered.

 

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