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The paper is based on a mixed-methods case study involving 580 young people aged 17-19 in northern England. The city of Sheffield, where the study took place, was chosen due to its contrasting areas of high and low participation in higher education (HE). Students in post-16 education from four institutions took part in the study. Two of the institutions were based in an area of Sheffield that has high participation rates in higher education and two institutions were based in an area of Sheffield with low participation rates in higher education 1. Methods included a quantitative survey, individual and group interviews. A survey response rate of over 90% of the sample population was achieved in each institution. The research took place over an academic year with Phase 1 comprising group interviews, Phase 2 a large-scale quantitative survey and Phase 3 comprising individual interviews with a sub-sample of survey participants.

The study examined a number of separate but related questions and some of these have been reported elsewhere (Hart, 2008, 2009, 2010a). This paper examines the question,‘What can a capability perspective add to understanding young people’s decision-making processes in transitions beyond school?’The study undertaken had a particular focus on young people’s decision-making processes in relation to applications for higher education places. However, the mechanisms of decisionmaking elucidated by the findings have ramifications for decision-making by children and young people at all stages of the education process. Indeed, there are wider ramifications to the workplace and other social contexts that become …