Intention, opportunity, choice: the transition from school to higher education

This paper considers some of the key policy implications of two phases of a study of the school-to-higher education (HE) transition conducted. The study investigated, in phase 1, the factors affecting Grade 12 learners' intentions to enter or not to enter HE within three years of the survey date (August 2001), their choice of institution and their choice of field of study. In phase 2, the study investigated the factors affecting learners' actual enrolment in HE - the institutions in which they enrolled and the fields of study for which they registered. It also sought to ascertain the numbers of learners who had not entered HE, either pursuing other study options (at school or in further education and training (FET) institutions) or entering the labour market; in the process, the phase 2 study sought to understand the factors that had affected these decisions and/or learning/career trajectories.