This article addresses the concern that the educational attainment of child welfare clients (CWCs) is generally poor. Drawing upon previous research showing that former CWCs lack higher education, this study argues that it is necessary to examine the first educational transition that directs students away from higher education. In Norway, this first transition point occurs in the transition from lower secondary school to the vocational track in upper secondary school. This educational transition is studied by means of analysis of longitudinal survey data on youths in Oslo. The sample consists of 1500 teenagers in Grade 10 in lower secondary school and in the second year of upper secondary school, of whom about 5% had had contact with child welfare services. The results show that CWCs’ high enrolment on the vocational track–and consequently away from higher education–cannot be understood only from the characteristics that previous research has reported as general explanations for the differences in educational transitions. Even though the results show that school performances, educational aspirations and background factors like parental education and sex had an impact on the probability of vocational secondary education, the probability of CWCs choosing the vocational track was still higher than with their peers. Consequently, to increase the transitions of CWCs to the academic track in upper secondary school, and thereby hopefully to higher education, specific measures for the CWCs are required. This article also discusses whether professionals should advise CWCs against the vocational track. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
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