In England, white boys from a working-class background are the lowest academic achievers at the age of 16 for any ethnic group. Just a quarter gain five of the old A*-C grades, or their current Level 2 replacements, at GCSE. If young people fail to achieve well at this stage of their educational trajectory, their subsequent life chances are often limited.

Most research on this subject has focused on why white working-class boys fail to engage with education. However, I recently undertook a study which focused on what enabled a small group of white working-class boys to achieve academic success when most of their cohort did not. This research looked at the problem from a positive aspect as opposed to the deficit approach of previous work. All the young men I interviewed had gone to university, the first in their families to do so.