Next Steps: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> (also known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE1)) is a major longitudinal cohort study following a nationally representative group of around 16,000 who were in Year 9 attending state and independent schools in England in 2004, a cohort born in 1989-90.<br><br>The first seven sweeps of the study were conducted annually (2004-2010) when the study was funded and managed by the Department for Education (DfE). The study mainly focused on the educational and early labour market experiences of young people.<br><br>In 2015 <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> was restarted, under the management of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the UCL Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> Age 25 survey was aimed at increasing the understanding of the lives of young adults growing up today and the transitions out of education and into early adult life.<br><br>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> Age 32 Survey took place between April 2022 and September 2023 and is the ninth sweep of the study. The Age 32 Survey aimed to provide data for research and policy on the lives of this generation of adults in their early 30s. This sweep also collected information on many wider aspects of cohort members' lives including health and wellbeing, politics and social participation, identity and attitudes as well as capturing personality, resilience, working memory and financial literacy. <br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span>&nbsp;survey data is also linked to the National Pupil Database (NPD), the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the Individualised Learner Records (ILR) and the Student Loans Company (SLC). <br><br>There are now two separate studies that began under the LSYPE programme. The second study, <span style="font-style: italic;">Our Future</span> (LSYPE2) (available at the UK Data Service under GN 2000110), began in 2013 and will track a sample of over 13,000 young people annually from ages 13/14 through to age 20.<br><br>Further information about&nbsp;<span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span>&nbsp;may be found on the&nbsp;<a class="external" href="https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/next-steps/" title="Centre for Longitudinal Studies" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CLS</a>&nbsp;website.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Secure Access datasets:</span></p><p>Secure Access versions of <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> have more restrictive access conditions than Safeguarded versions available under the standard End User Licence (see 'Access' section).<br><br>Secure Access versions of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span> include:</p><ul><li>sensitive variables from the questionnaire data for Sweeps 1-9. These are available under Secure Access SN 8656.&nbsp; &nbsp;<br></li><li>National Pupil Database (NPD) linked data at Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5, England. These are available under SN 7104.</li><li>Linked Individualised Learner Records learner and learning aims datasets for academic years 2005 to 2014, England.&nbsp; These are available under SN 8577.<br></li><li>detailed geographic indicators for Sweep 1 and Sweep 8 (2001 Census Boundaries) are available under SN 8189, geographic indicators for Sweep 8 and 9 (2011 Census Boundaries) are available under SN 8190, and geographic indicators for&nbsp;Sweep 9 (2021 Census&nbsp;Boundaries) are available under SN 9337. The Sweep 1 geography file was previously held under SN 7104.</li><li>Linked Health Administrative Datasets (Hospital Episode Statistics) for financial years 1997-2022 held under SN 8681.</li><li>Linked&nbsp;Student Loans Company Records for years 2007-2021 held under SN 8848.</li></ul>When researchers are approved/accredited to access a Secure Access version of<span style="font-style: italic;"> Next Steps</span>, the Safeguarded (EUL) version of the study - <span style="font-style: italic;">Next Steps</span>: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023 (SN 5545) - will be automatically provided alongside.<br><br><br><p><span style="font-style: italic;">SN 5545 - Next Steps: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023</span> includes the main <span>
Next Steps</span> survey data from Sweep 1 (age 14) to Sweep 9 (age 32).<br>
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<span style="font-style: italic;">Latest edition information</span><br>For the eighteenth edition (February 2025), the Sweep 9 Derived Variables data file has been updated with some newly derived variables categorised under the household (W9DCHNO12, W9DTOTCH, W9DTOTOWNCH) and education (W9DAQLVLH, W9DVQLVLH) sections. The Longitudinal data file have been updated with changes to the weight variables. Three out of the four weights in the previous version have been removed. W9FINWTALLB has been renamed to W9FINWT in line with previous sweeps. The user guide has been updated to reflect these changes. Furthermore, the derived variables user guide has been merged into the main user guide and can be accessed via Appendix 1.</p><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br><p>The content of the Next Steps Sweep 9 (Age 32 Survey) covers the following topics:</p>
<ul>
<li>Household relationship - Module includes information on: current relationship, previous cohabiting relationships, children (previously reported and new to household), childcare, non-resident children, non-resident parents, other household members (previously reported and new to the household).</li><li>Housing - Module includes information on: current and previous housing, homelessness.</li><li>Activities and employment - Module includes information on: activity history, current activity, current employment, employment at age 25, employment details for first job after full-time education, second job, prospective employment, employment support, work attitudes, and partner employment.</li><li>Finance - Module includes information on: current pay/salary main job, pay/salary from second job, debt, income from other sources, partner's salary, benefits, other income, household income, pensions, savings and investments, subjective disposable income and attitudes to debt/saving/pension and future planning.</li><li>Educational qualifications - Module includes information on: current education, educational qualifications, fees paid while in education, partner education</li><li>Health - Module includes information on: general health, height and weight, illness/disability, exercise, sleep, diet, Covid-19.</li><li>Identity, attitudes, and social and political participation -&nbsp; Module includes information on: attitudes, ethnic group, leisure, national identity, partner ethnicity, politics, social networks and social support, trust.</li><li>Self Completion - Module includes information on: age at menarche, cognitive assessment, crime, difficult events, domestic violence, drinking, drugs, financial circumstances, financial literacy, gender identity and sexual orientation, health, loneliness, mental health, migration, personality, pregnancy history, relationship quality, school, sexual behaviour, smoking and well-being.</li></ul>
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<p>The content of the Next Steps Sweep 8 (Age 25 Survey) covers the following topics:</p>
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<ul>
<li>Household relationships: This module included information on current relationship, previous cohabiting relationships (dating back to September 2006), children, childcare, non-resident children, non-resident parents, and other household members.</li><li>Housing: This module covered current and previous housing (summary data is collected about the different addresses the study members have lived in since they were 16, if other than the parents' home).</li><li>Employment: Included information about current activity, current employment, second job, prospective employment (for unemployed), activity history, employment details for first job after September 2006 (aged 16), employment support, work attitudes, and partner employment. Data on current economic activities and activity history was obtained back to the time of the last interview and no earlier than September 2006.</li><li>Finance: This module captured current pay/salary main job, pay from second job, income from other jobs, partner's income, benefits, income from other sources, household income, pensions, and debt.<br>
</li><li>Education and job training: The module included job training, education since previous interview/September 2006, current education, fees, and partner's education.</li><li>Health and wellbeing: Included information on general health, height and weight, exercise, sleep, diet, accidents and injuries.<br>
</li><li>Identity and participation: This module provided information on young people's ethnicity and religion, measures of trust, risk, patience, meritocratic beliefs, adult identity, leisure, politics, social networks and social media participation.</li><li>Self-completion module: The self-completion module included data on gender identity, locus of control, overall life satisfaction, mental health, self-harm, crime and harassment, drinking and smoking behaviour, drugs, bullying, sexual behaviour, and pregnancy history.</li></ul>
A key component of the Age 25 Survey sweep is data linkage to administrative records held about individuals by government departments.
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At Sweeps 1-4 information was gathered on:
<ul>
<li>the young person's family background;</li><li>parental socio-economic status;</li><li>personal characteristics;</li><li>attitudes, experiences and behaviours;</li><li>attainment in education;</li><li>parental employment;</li><li>income and family environment as well as local deprivation;</li><li>the school(s) the young person attends/has attended;</li><li>the young person's post-16 plans.</li></ul>
The questionnaires at Sweeps 5-7 consisted of two modules:
<ul>
<li>Household Information Module: included questions on the young person's household situation details of any persons living with them</li><li>Young Person Module: topics included demographics, attitudes to local area, activity history and current activity, jobs and training, qualifications being studied, higher education, attitudes to work and debt, childcare and caring responsibilities, young people Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), Apprenticeships, information, advice and guidance, risk behaviours, relationships and sexuality, and own children.</li></ul>
The additional 'Monthly Main Activity' dataset takes responses to the Activity History section of the questionnaire at Sweeps 4-7 and synthesises this information into variables that represent a monthly time series running from September 2006 (two months after the respondents completed compulsory education) until May 2010 (the first month of interviews for Sweep 7). For each of the 45 months in this period, this file contains the respondent's derived 'main' activity which is classified as one of Education, Employment, Apprenticeship/Training or Unemployed/Inactive (NEET).
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