This paper addresses how social capital theories (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977; Coleman, 1988) can inform an understanding of the experience of young people especially in the transition to and beyond secondary school. Evidence is drawn from three case studies undertaken in deprived urban settings in Scotland in 2007 and 2008, but the findings are applicable across most countries with developed economies. In many countries transition issues have been a focus of research (e.g. O’Brien, 2003). In Scotland over the past several years educational policy has sought to address the experiences of transitions to school, transitions from primary to secondary school, and transitions to post-compulsory schooling destinations. Transitions are part of life and can be especially significant and defined as children progress to adult roles. The inevitability of such transitions and the implications for personal development make them of particular significance. The adoption of a 3 – 18 curriculum model is meant to address the continuity of curriculum design with the expectation that joined up curriculum will support continuity of learning across stages of schooling (Curriculum Review Group, 2004). Many of the initiatives taken by schools to implement Curriculum for Excellence policies have focused on enhanced integration of the curriculum during the Primary to Secondary transition (e.g. Topping et al 2007). In addition, the current government has identified as one of its forty-five outcomes an increase in ‘the proportion of school leavers … in positive and sustained destinations’ (The Scottish Government, 2007). Hence barriers to successful transitions into and out of compulsory secondary education are of particular interest. Questions of identity are integral to the process of transition, especially if a young person’s identity as a ‘school pupil’ involved conflict with authority. The interaction between social identity and personal identity is of particular relevance because a negative personal identity reduces the options that a young person can access. In cases where leaving school early is without access to employment or further education, it was found that there is a loss of access to peers. This can then impinge on social and personal identity in a manner that restricts access to ‘positive and sustained destinations’ because most young people derive their aspirations from their family and immediate peer group. Where few if any of their family are in employment and they lose connection with their peers, there are no avenues for connecting with either further education or employment.396

In this paper the voices of young people across three case studies are used to explore the transitions of young people as they move into secondary school and beyond. In the first case, 23 young people were interviewed in their final year of primary school and again nearly 12 months later at the end of their first year of secondary schooling. In the second case, 18 young people aged 12 to 14 were followed over 18 months in a youth club setting and the sources of neighbourhood and community support were mapped. In the final case study 7 of 11 unemployed early school leavers aged 16 to 18 who commenced a community based support programme were followed for up to 18 months. In the second interview they were asked to look back at their transition to secondary school and also to describe their experience of leaving school. 147

All the young people reported considerable disruption of their social networks when they made the transition from primary to secondary school. There was evidence from all three case studies that most young people have the security of an adult they trust in primary school, but that this is less evident at least in the early secondary years. The breaks in social networks in the transition to secondary appear to be most traumatic for those young people from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Institutional and structural arrangements especially between secondary schools and other agencies play a significant role in the experience of transitions for young people, and can either facilitate successful transitions or add to confusion and uncertainty. 117