Youth Cohort Study (YCS)
YCS began in 1985 in England and Wales, United Kingdom. It was a major programme of longitudinal research designed to monitor the behaviour and decisions of representative samples of young people aged 16 years onwards as they make the transition from compulsory education to further or higher education, or to the labour market. The YCS tries to identify and explain the factors which influence post-16 transitions, for example, educational attainment, training opportunities, experiences at school. YCS covered 13 cohorts and over 40 surveys: Cohort One (surveyed in 1983-84), Cohort Two (surveyed in 1984-1985), Cohort Three (surveyed in 1985-86), Cohort Four (surveyed in 1987-1988), Cohort Five (surveyed in 1989-1990), Cohort Six (surveyed in 1990-1991), Cohort Seven (surveyed in 1992-1993), Cohort Eight (surveyed in 1995-1996), Cohort Nine (surveyed in 1996-1997). Cohort Ten (surveyed in 1998-1999), Cohort Eleven (surveyed in 2000-2001), Cohort Twelve (surveyed in 2002-2003), and Cohort Thirteen (surveyed in 2005-2006). Cohorts One to Twelve cover England and Wales, but from Cohort Thirteen, data cover England only.
Study design
Cohort
Number of participants at first data collection
8,064 (participants)
Age at first data collection
≥ 16 years (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
The 16- and 17-year old population in England and Wales.
Sample features
Countries
Year of first data collection
1985
Primary Institutions
Department for Education (DfE)
Profile paper DOI
Not available
Funders
Department for Education (DfE)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Interview – face-to-face
- Interview – online
- Interview – phone
- Secondary data
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- None
- Census data
- Education data
- Existing research data
Engagement
Keywords
