Generation guinea-pig

The school leavers of 2002 faced more educational change than any other year group. Celia Dodd talks to four friends who met at primary school and moved on to different secondaries. How did they fare?

James, Chris and Colin first met in the nursery class of West Acton primary school in 1989. Elliott joined them in reception a year later. Now 18, they've just left school and are still good friends – despite having moved from the age of nine to a variety of state and private schools in and out of London.

The boys' widely differing experiences offer a snapshot of English education at a period of particular upheaval. As part of a guinea-pig generation, they were on the receiving end of a succession of new government initiatives throughout their school careers. They were the first to take Sats at seven, 11 and 14, they endured the birth throes of the National Curriculum and pioneered the controversial AS-levels last year. And between them they've tried most of the educational options on offer: inner-city comprehensives, strict church schools, private single-sex secondaries and further-education colleges.

They are all bright and articulate boys whose parents were originally quite happy with state education. In the end only James and Elliott were state-educated throughout – James in Cambridgeshire and Elliott in London. James has a place at Cambridge, while Elliott did well in his GCSEs but dropped out of further education college after seven months because he was dissatisfied with the BTEC course that he was recommended to take. He is now doing temporary work to finance the music career which is his real passion. Both boys reckon that they would have achieved the same results whatever school they had attended.

By contrast, Chris and Colin believe that their private schooling had a big influence on their results. Chris, who is predicted to get four As at A level, went to an independent boys' school at 11. Colin started at the local comprehensive with Elliott, but moved to an independent Catholic school at 14. He's predicted to get one A and two Bs.

When they discuss one another's results, James is the only one who admits to putting in "hours and hours" of revision. There's a lot of banter about Elliott being lazy; Chris gets the same respect for top marks with minimal effort. And he's clear-sighted about the differences in their achievement: "Elliott's one of the cleverest guys around, but he just hasn't had so many opportunities. I remember meeting him on the tube on the way to his science GCSE and he was reading the stuff for the first time – and he still got a B. How did he do that? At my school they teach you exam techniques and test you a lot. And people generally mess around less in class – that's basically the difference."

Their insiders' view is of an education system that serves some children well, but sells others short. Elliott and Colin agree that their comprehensive let down some of their brightest classmates. Colin says, "We see people in the street from school who were really clever; they had a lot of capability in Year 7, but by Year 11 they'd slipped. For some reason they went down the wrong road and now they're doing bad things – crime and stuff – and it's such a shame, they had such potential. The school didn't encourage those people enough."

But independent schools also let some pupils down. Colin points to people who were excluded from private schools, either for not working hard enough or for behaviour that would have been treated more leniently elsewhere. Elliott adds: "I know people who didn't make it to Year 11 at their private school because they got expelled, whereas if they'd been at my school they would have been given more chances and might have come out with something at the end of it."

The boys' friendship has survived against the odds. After all, it's quite unusual for boys from inner-city comprehensives to mix much with their private-school contemporaries. The three London boys go to parties and pubs together most weekends, have friends from at least eight local schools and also go on holiday together. James, living so far away, has inevitably drifted away from them, but the bond is still there. It helped that their mothers remained close. And when they were younger they all went to Cubs and weekly football organised by Elliott's dad.

It also helped that the clash of school cultures didn't really hit home until they started going out at night – when the first question is inevitably about where you go to school. Independent schoolboy Chris remembers, "When you're 14 or 15 it's quite a big issue, whereas it doesn't matter at all now. If I went out with Elliott and all the rude boys from his school were there they'd assume I was a posh boy – they'd have this stereotyped idea until they spoke to me."

Chris knows from experience that what private schools can't deliver – and state schools can – are skills for the streets. Forget public-school confidence – what boys want more than anything is to be streetwise. "It's all about how to act around different people – that's probably the only thing you didn't get at my school because it's more enclosed," says Chris. Elliott adds, "You come out of state school with a more rounded view of people; you'll be able to deal with people better. I think it's a much better preparation for when you leave and go to work or whatever."

One downside of state schooling – although the boys don't necessarily see it as one – is a certain amount of social manoeuvring. James remembers, "I was pretty much a boffin and I got quite a bit of cussing. I always had to be as cool as possible to try and compensate for getting good grades – you've got to make sure you don't use the big words too often and things like that. I had an easier time at sixth form college – suddenly I wasn't a freak any more."

Colin also felt more comfortable at his private school. He reckons he got the best of both worlds: "There was nice diversity at the comprehensive. In three years I met a lot of good people and experienced a lot of different things. But at the private school there were more people like me. I felt more able to be an individual. Before, you were always aware of how you looked to other people; you had to maintain a balance between working hard and keeping your credibility by getting along with people who weren't doing as well. Then they'd respect you, although you still got a few cusses."

It's all water under the bridge now. Life in the reception class where the boys started full-time school is very different for today's five-year-olds. The boys still laugh about the Sats that they took at seven – time-consuming, chaotic experiments with Plasticine, water and dice, which were a far cry from today's written papers sat by anxious children in serried rows. They are less amused by the confusion surrounding the first AS-levels.

The changes that they've been through might not have been all bad, but can it be fair that a single year group bore the brunt of the disruption that inevitably came with their introduction? Colin's mum Linda, a primary teacher, thinks not: "I think on the whole the changes have been good for the children in school now, but I think they've been bad for Colin's year even up till now. I just wish he had had a bit more teaching rather than so much jumping through hoops. It's just not fair."

As the post-A-level partying peters out, the stressful countdown to results begins for all the boys except Elliott. He has his own reasons to be nervous: he got his first big break in a recording studio this week. Like all the parents, Linda is feeling the pressure: "I don't know what will happen now – we'll know on 15 August, won't we? Colin's had his chance with school now – all of a sudden that seems very scary."

An education in the life of four friends

JAMES BATESON

Family: Mother an IT consultant, father a marketing manager. Siblings go to state schools

Age 3-9: First school in Acton, west London

Age 9-11: Church of England junior school in Ealing,before the family moved to Norfolk and later to a Cambridgeshire village, where he went to state primaries

Age 11-16: Grant-maintained technology college. Became deputy head boy

Age 16-18: State sixth-form college in Cambridge

Predictions: Four As at A-level. Has an offer to read natural science at Cambridge

COLIN FAIRLEY

Family: Father is head of a primary school and mother a primary school teacher. Younger sister is at a single-sex comprehensive

Age 3-9: First school in Acton

Age 9-11: C of E Junior school in Ealing with James

Age 11-14: local comprehensive with Elliott

Age 14-18: Independent Catholic boys' school in Ealing

Predictions: One A and two Bs. Has a place at Leeds to study sociology

CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERSON

Family: Mother a teacher, father runs his own business. Older sister went to the local comprehensive, then to an independent sixth form; younger brother goes to another local comprehensive

Age 3-9: First school in Acton

Age 9-11: Very highly regarded Ealing primary school

Age 11-18: Independent boys' school

Predictions: four As. He decided not to apply to Cambridge and has a place at medical school in Leeds

ELLIOTT THOMAS

Family: Mother a driving instructor; father an electrician. His younger brother goes to a comprehensive

Age 2-5: Because he has glaucoma and is partially sighted, Elliott got a place at day nursery and had one-to-one special needs help for much of his school career

Age 5-9: First school in Acton

Age 9-11: The same Ealing primary school as Chris

Age 11-16 West London comprehensive with Colin. GCSEs: eight, As to Cs

Age 16-17: FE college, where he started a BTEC in music technology. Left last year to produce dance music

education@independent.co.uk