As part of the Wave 1 findings of the COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities (COSMO) study, we examined the education and career plans of the COSMO cohort when they were in Year 12 (aged 16-17).1 A key finding from this analysis was that over three in five young people changed their education or career plans due to the pandemic. Following this group into Wave 2 of the study, we are now in a position to say more about what the repercussions of this have been. For some, the education and career pathways set upon last year will have remained on course; for others, instabilities in their lives precipitated by the pandemic may have resulted in further change – above and beyond what they reported in Year 12.
Looking at the period when the cohort were establishing their post-18 plans, we continue to explore their education and career plans. For those who remained in education, their final year of school/ college will have, in part, been spent planning what they are going to do when they leave school; whether this is to go straight into employment, enrol in higher education (HE), or head into other forms of training. To this end, research suggests that students’ exposure to early career guidance at school has a lasting impact on both accessing careers information at university and subsequent career pathways.2
Access to high quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) is key to informed decision-making around future education and career plans. When, at Wave 1, young people were asked about school-based IAG, access had been hampered by pandemic disruptions to schooling. Given the emphasis on the role of early advice on careers and educational choices in future outcomes – and that access tends to vary in accordance with disadvantage3, 4, – it is important to further explore access to IAG for the COSMO cohort after the pandemic. This is especially so during Year 13, when many young people are making decisions that will set them off on new educational and career pathways.
