In Spain, one in four young people leave lower secondary education without obtaining the Lower Secondary Education Certificate (LSEC)  and very few of them achieve this later on (Albert, Davia & Toharia, 2008; García, Casal, Merino & Sánchez, 2013). Moreover, one in four go on to swell the ranks of early school leavers (ESL). This rate, which reflects the percentage of the population aged 18 to 24 years who have the LSEC or lower (ISCED levels 0-2) and who are not continuing in any type of education or training, in 2012 stood at 24.9%, almost double that of the European Union, which stood at 12.8% (Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, 2013).

This situation occurs in a context in which the completion of upper secondary education (ISCED level 3) has become the minimum requirement for successful entry into the labour market and the basis of subsequent participation in further education (OECD 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013).  From a more comprehensive perspective, the focus on abilities highlights the influence of education on the ability to use resources and, in general, to make “good decisions” and to develop oneself fully (Sen, 1992, 1999). Studies on the transition of young people into adult life document the disadvantaged position of young men and women with a low level of education to successfully perform the many complex tasks this ever longer period of life requires (Berzin, 2010; Kuehn, Pergamit, Macomber & Vericker, 2009).  

The current economic crisis and the policies that are being adopted as a result of this crisis are increasing obstacles to autonomy and, as such, to the very construction as adults of these groups. This is made particularly evident in the high percentage of young Spanish people, from 15 to 29 years of age, in the NEET category (Not in Employment, Education or Training) amongst those who have the lowest level of education (ISCED 0-2), which is 28.9% (according to data from 2011), the highest among all European countries and far above the mean of the EU21 and the OECD, which is between 15 and 16% (OECD, 2013).

The aim of this paper is a study on the transition itineraries into adult life of young people aged 26 to 27 years, who dropped out of the education system with no qualifications or with the qualification corresponding to LSEC (ISCED level 0-2) and who have not achieved this during the ten years elapsed after their leaving. The research questions posed are the following: What training and work itineraries did they follow after compulsory education? How do they articulate with other spheres of life? What impact has the crisis that began in 2008 had on these itineraries? What are the reasons that led them to follow these itineraries? How do they relate to the school biography during compulsory education and to structural factors (social class, gender, migratory situation)? What is their relationship with contextual aspects (dominant values, paradigms and policies, labour market)? What is their relationship with policies and resources regarding education and training?

The main theoretical framework is based on the contributions of the University of Barcelona Research Group on Education and Work (GRET) to the study of youth as a biographical period and to the analysis of transitions according to socio-historical and territorial context, institutional mechanisms, and the biographical process (Casal, García, Merino & Quesada, 2006; Casal, Merino & García, 2011); the contributions of the European Group for Integrated Research (EGRIS) as regards theoretical aspects and the axes of analysis of successful itineraries and vulnerability (Walther et al., 2002); and of Claire Bidart  (2006a, b, 2008) to the study of itineraries as processes.

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