School Leavers Study

This study is organised into three files. File one and two contains the 142 essays; file three contains copies of an article on the research published in New Society in 1978.

This study consists of 142 essays written by school pupils. Teachers at a comprehensive school on the Isle Of Sheppey set an essay to all those in English lessons ten days before they were due to leave school. The pupils were asked to imagine that they were nearing the end of their life, and that something made them think back to the time when they left school. They were then asked to write an account of their life over the next 30 or 40 years.

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Confidentiality

The materials held in the collection contain personal and identifying information. It is essential that the privacy of all respondents is not infringed. No real names or any other identifiable information used in the studies may appear in public. No attempt may be made to contact respondents directly. Use of the materials to derive information relating specifically to an identified individual or to claim to have done so is prohibited.

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The collection was acquired and prepared for archiving by Qualidata in 1997 and deposited in the NSPSCA.

Additional material is not expected

Pahl, R.E., 'Living without a job: how school leavers see the future' in New Society, 2 November, 1978. Vol. 46 No.839. pp 259 - 262.

National Social Policy and Social Change Archive (NSPSCA), Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex