This paper presents a qualitative study examining Norwegian students’ perspectives on their transition from lower secondary to upper secondary education, focusing on their social, emotional, and personal experiences.

Almost all 16-year-old adolescents exercise their right to attend upper secondary school in Norway. Approximately two-thirds complete their upper secondary education within the prescribed time, while 12 percent of adolescents aged 16 to 25 neither pass nor attend upper secondary level (Statistics Norway [SSB], 2023).

To reduce dropouts and ensure more students complete their education on time, the Norwegian government aims to improve the quality of the transition process between lower and upper secondary levels, ensuring all students experience positive and safe transitions. This goal is now mandated by the new Education Act implemented in 2024 (Opplæringslova, 2023, § 9-5). Research supports this measure, indicating that positive transition experiences during the educational process are crucial for preventing unwanted dropouts (De Witte & Rogge, 2013; Lillejord et al., 2015; Santos et al., 2020).

For schools to succeed in enhancing the student transition process, staff must understand the perspectives of those involved, particularly the students (Jindal-Snape, 2016). However, we have limited knowledge about how students experience this transition (Mjaavatn & Frostad, 2018). This paper aims to address the question, "How do students experience the transition to upper secondary school socially, emotionally, and personally?" and to highlight key issues that schools must consider when implementing measures to ensure a smooth and safe transition.

This study is conducted within the framework of Sociocultural Theory, which emphasizes the interaction between human mental processes and the environment, suggesting that context shapes how people think and act (Vygotsky, 1978). Supported by Bakhtin (1986), this includes understanding that each school and school level is characterized by the people who interact there and the established institutional and culturally conditioned values, ways of being, and ways of understanding school.

Additionally, the study is supported by Jindal-Snape’s (2016) Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions (MMT) Theory, which emphasizes that students experience multiple transitions simultaneously, across various contexts and domains. Since these transitions impact each other, it is essential to understand their complexities. Based on a study on the transition to lower secondary school, Strand (2022) suggests that students experience transitions in external domains such as the physical, social, cultural, and academic (e.g., new buildings, new schoolmates, new rules, new subjects or curriculum), and in internal domains such as the emotional, identity, and biological (e.g., emotional development, developing new identities, puberty). Sandal (2019) further highlights that the structural domain is a significant aspect of the transition to upper secondary level. The complexity of experiencing multiple transitions means that different students will need varying support over time from a range of significant others (Jindal-Snape, 2016).

Although this paper focuses on students' personal, social, and emotional experiences, it acknowledges that other domains also impact students' overall and personal experiences.

This study employs a qualitative case study design, exploring a bounded system over time (Creswell, 2013). It examines the perspectives of seven students on their transition from lower secondary school (grade 10) to upper secondary schools (grade 11). These students attended the same lower secondary school and were previously part of a longitudinal qualitative case study on their transition from primary to lower secondary school. The selection criterion was that the students had varied experiences of that transition (Strand, 2022). Upon starting upper secondary education, the seven students were distributed across three different schools and four different general and vocational study programs. The empirical material consists of one interview and two letters from each of the seven students. The first letter was written in the 10th grade, a few days after they made their final choice of school and study program for year 11. The second letter was written a few weeks after starting grade 11 at their chosen upper secondary school. Additionally, they participated in individual semi-structured interviews at the end of grade 11. In both the letters and interviews, students were asked to freely describe their thoughts, expectations, and experiences of the transition. In systematizing the transcribed material, I drew inspiration from the constant comparative analysis method (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Through the analysis process, three categories were developed: “Time for a change of environment,” “Finding someone I can always talk to,” and “A whole new school life.” These titles are based on direct quotes from the participating students and reflect an interpreted understanding of their personal experiences of the transition process, including their social and emotional experiences.

The students looked forward to facing new social and physical environments at upper secondary school. This desire not only influenced their choice of study program but also which school they applied to. This indicates that the choice of school is largely about who the students want to be and be with (Andreassen et al., 2008; Buland et al., 2014), making it as much a choice of identity as an academic decision. Furthermore, it confirms that social changes, especially those related to friendships with peers, are most important to them (Hernandez-Martinez et al., 2011). Despite this, the students reported receiving little information about the social environment and learning culture at the various schools. Consequently, several based their choice of school on rumors rather than formal information. Additionally, the students had varied experiences regarding whether their year 11 teachers helped them get to know each other. This suggests that students encounter different and random socialization practices, influenced more by individual teachers' interests and motivation than by a unified transition practice. The students experienced a mix of joy, stress, and frustration during their transition process. Their stories suggest that the way they handle the emotional dimension of the transition is largely influenced by how they settle in socially. Thus, a well-supported social transition is crucial not only for the students' sense of belonging and social development but also for their emotional development. This study concludes that friendships, identity, rumors, and students’ impressions of the school’s culturally based values and ways of being affect their expectations and choices regarding upper secondary school, how they settle into the new environment, and their overall transition experience. These aspects must be considered when the transition is supported, to ensure that all students experience a positive and safe transition and hence to prevent dropouts.

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