It is widely recognised that dropouts face reduced chances in the labour market. For a substantial share of dropouts, however, this is not a permanent outcome. Yet, the return of dropouts to upper secondary education, i.e., re-enrolment, has received little international academic and policy attention. For the present purpose, we define temporary withdrawal as losing and (re-)accepting, a place in an upper secondary school.

In this project, we will study re-enrolment in upper secondary education after temporary withdrawal, among people under the age of 25. With no national descriptions of re-enrollees currently available, the project will paint a much-needed picture of who these are and how to promote re-enrolment and subsequent completion among at-risk youth. 

We combine sources of data and methods. First, analyses of administrative registry data will provide an overview of re-enrolment patterns, demographic traits, and factors promoting return. Second, interviews with youth make out the main data collection. The aim is to generate knowledge on their perceptions of the in- and out-of-school journey they traverse. We will conduct a two-group design to facilitate a comparison of different stages of the re-enrolment process within the four-year frame. The first group is dropouts from the Supplementary Programme for general university and college admissions certification. The second group is re-enrollees in both vocational and general study programmes. We will follow the same young people over time in both these groups to obtain knowledge of change and continuity in aspirations, and the challenges the face in the re-enrolment process.