Predicting successful and difficult transitions to secondary school

Moving from primary to secondary school involves a degree of apprehension for most pupils. Pupils have to adapt to a more challenging school setting with different academic structures and expectations as well as changes in social interactions with teachers and peers. A significant minority of pupils experience a range of difficulties in adjusting to secondary school as shown by lower grades, poor attendance and increased anxiety. This study aims to identify factors that make a successful transition to secondary school more likely as well as to identify risk factors for a difficult transition.

The results will help to identify the most vulnerable pupils so that they can be given extra support. The researchers will follow a group of approximately 1000 pupils as they make the transition from primary school to secondary school. They will collect information from pupils, parents and teachers and will ask about pupils’ well-being, academic achievement, and their views about school and relationships with friends and teachers. This information will be collected on three occasions beginning in the last term of primary school and ending in the last term of the first year of secondary school. This will allow the team to examine how pupils change and adapt to secondary school over the course of the study. The researchers will also investigate how friendships and relationships with teachers and parents can help pupils make a positive transition to secondary school.