Abstract/Summary

23% of children currently at Secondary school have parents who are in one of the armed forces (Goodwill, 2017). In the last eight years these children have been identified by the Government because of their potentially vulnerable nature because of a number of potential issues effecting their progress, including; multiple movements between schools, emotional concerns with parents being posted overseas and trouble with movement of school records. The purpose of this piece of research was to examine the aspirations and career choices of this vulnerable group and to consider the choices they are making. As children from service families have been identified as vulnerable by the government, are included in the pupil premium scheme, included in compact schemes between colleges and universities and are highlighted by Ofsted as they were an important and an underrepresented group in current educational research, this research seeks to make a significant contribution to our understanding of these students by considering whether there is something inherent in being a service family that effects the choices that they make? Does their experience in education as a service child inherently change their future career paths? Using college data and qualitative interviews this research examined what factors effect the post 16 choices that these students make. For example, do these students plan to go onto Further Education, complete other training, join the armed forces or go into other employment? What shapes these ideas and how does being a service child affect their aspirations? The findings from this research indicate that the factors affecting a service child’s aspirations although complex are similar in some respects to non-service children. However, it also highlights some major issues with regards to service children, the careers advice they receive at school and their progression from school, through college and onto University. It concludes, by offering some implications for a number of stakeholders.