Below are a number of references on this topic that you might find useful:
Ball, SJ Davies, D David, M & Reay, D (2002) 'Classification' and 'judgement': social class and the 'cognitive structures' of choice of Higher Education, Sociology of Education, 23 (1), pp. 51-72.
Ballinger, GJ (2003) Bridging the gap between A-level and degree: some observations on managing the transitional stage in the study of English Literature, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2, pp. 99-109.
Barnes, L Buckley, A Hopkins, P & Tate, S (2011) The transition to and through university for non-traditional local students: some observations for teachers, Teaching Geography, Summer, pp.70-71.
Barron, P & D’Annunzio-Green, N (2009) A Smooth Transition?, Active Learning in Higher Education, 10 (1), pp. 7-25.
Bednarz, S., Burkill, S., Lidstone, J. & Rawling, E. (2000) The International Network for Learning and Teaching Geography: developing links with school education, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 24, pp. 277-284.
Bidgood, P Saebi, N & May, S (2006) Influences on student withdrawal from further education: a case study, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 58 (2), pp. 223-236.
Birnie, J (1999) Physical geography and the transition to higher education: the effect of prior learning, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 23 (1), pp. 49-62.
Broadbridge, A & Swanson, V (2005) Earning and learning: how term-time employment impacts on students' adjustment to university life, Journal of Education and Work, 18 (2), pp. 235-249.
Brooks, R (2002) Transitional friends? Young people’s strategies to manage and maintain friendships during period of repositioning, Journal of Youth Studies, 5, pp. 449-467.
Bryson, JR (1997) Breaking through the A level effect: a first-year tutorial in student self-reflection, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 212, pp. 163-169.
Castree, N (2011) Commentary: the future of geography in English universities, The Geographical Journal, 177 (4), pp. 294-299.
Castree, N Fuller, D & Lambert, D (2007) Geography without borders, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 32, pp. 129-32.
Christie, H (2007) Higher education and spatial (im)mobility: non-traditional students and living at home, Environment and Planning A, 39 (10), pp. 2445-2463.
Christie, H & Grant, F (2004) The experiences of first year students: encouraging student retention, Research Briefing No.3, August 2004.
Christie, H & Munro, M (2003) The logic of loans: students’ perceptions of the costs and benefits of the student loan, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24 (5), pp. 621-636.
Christie, H Munro, M & Fisher, T (2004) Leaving university early: exploring the differences between continuing and non-continuing students, Studies in Higher Education, 29 (5), pp. 617-636.
Christie, H Munro, M & Rettig, H (2001) Making ends meet: student incomes and debt, Studies and Higher Education, 26 (3), pp. 363-383.
Christie, H Munro, M & Rettig, H (2002) Accommodating Students, Journal of Youth Studies, 5 (2), pp. 209-235.
Christie, H Munro, M & Wager, F (2005) `Day students' in higher education: widening access students and successful transitions to university life, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 15, pp. 3 – 29.
Cock, D Nixon, S Walker, C Mitchell, E Walsh, B. & Zaitseva, E (2008) Understanding student engagement: evaluation of an intensive five-week transition programme, CETL Journal: Innovations in Practice, 1 (1), pp. 36-43.
Coles, B Rugg, J & Seavers, J (1999) Young adults living in the parental home: the implications of extended youth transitions for housing and social policy. In Rugg, J. (ed) Young People, Housing and Social Policy. London: Routledge. pp. 159-181.
Crozier, G (2008) The Socio-Cultural and Learning Experiences of Working Class Students in HE. ESRC End of Award Report, Swindon: ESRC.
Crozier, G Reay, D Clayton, J Colliander, L & Grinstead, J (2008) Different strokes for different folks: diverse students in diverse institutions- experiences of higher education, Research Papers in Education, 23 (2), 167-177.
Department for Education and Skills (2003) Widening Participation in Higher Education London: The Stationary Office.
Etter, ER Burmeister, SL & Elder, RJ (2001) Improving student performance and retention via supplemental instruction, Journal of Accounting and Education, 18 (4), pp. 355-368.
Ford, J Bosworth, D & Wilson, R (1995) Part-time work and full-time higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 20 (2), pp. 187–202.
Gaskin, S & Hall, R (2002) Exploring London: a novel induction exercise for the new undergraduate, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 26 (2), pp. 197-208.
Haigh, MJ & Kilmartin, MP (1999) Student perceptions of the development of personal transferable skills, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 232, pp. 195-206.
Hatt, S Baxter, A & Tate J (2009) ‘It was definitely a turning point!’ A review of Aimhigher summer schools in the south west of England, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 33 (4), pp. 333-346.
Hill, J. & Jones, M. (2010) ‘Joined-up geography’: connecting school-level and university-level geographies, Geography, 95, pp. 22-32.
Holdsworth, C (2006) ‘Don’t you think you’re missing out, living at home?’ Student experiences and residential transitions, The Sociological Review, 54 (3), pp. 495-519.
Holdsworth, C (2009) Between two worlds: local students in higher education and ‘Scouse’/ student identities, Population Space and Place, 15, pp. 1-13.
Holdsworth, C (2009) Going away to uni: mobility, modernity, and independence of English higher education students, Environment and Planning A, 41 (8), pp. 1849–64.
Holdsworth, C & Morgan, D (2005) Transitions in Context: Leaving Home, Independence and Adulthood. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Hopkins, P (2006) Youth transitions and going to university: the perceptions of students attending a geography summer school access programme, Area, 38 (3), pp. 240–47.
Hutchings, M & Archer, l (2001) ‘Higher than Einstein’: constructions of going to university among working class non-participants, Research Papers in Education, 16 (1), pp. 69-91.
Imrie, R & Cowling, D (2006) Forging partnerships with institutions of higher education, Teaching Geography, 31 (1), pp. 23-25.
Jeffrey, C (2003) Bridging the gulf between secondary school and university-level geography teachers: reflections on organising a UK teachers’ conference, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 272, pp. 201-215.
Johnson, V (2002) Student Progression and Retention. Middlesex University, 9th December.
Jones, G (2002) The Youth Divide: Diverging Paths to Adulthood, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Jones, R & Thomas, L (2005) The 2003 UK Government Higher Education White Paper: a critical assessment of its implications for the access and widening participation agenda, Journal of Education Policy, 20 (5), pp. 615-630.
Lasselle, L Keir, F & Smith, I (2009) Enhancing pupils’ aspirations to university: the St Andrews Sutton Trust school experience, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 33 (4), pp. 395-410.
Leathwood, C & O’Connell, P (2003) ‘It’s a struggle’: the construction of the ‘new student’ in higher education, Journal of Education Policy, 18 (6), pp. 597-615.
Lehmann, W (2009) University as vocational education: working-class students’ expectations for university, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 30 (2), pp. 137-149.
MacDonald, R Mason, P Shildrick, T Webster, C Johnston, L & Ridley, L (2001) Snakes & ladders: in defence of studies of youth transition. Sociological Research Online, 5 (4).
Maguire, S Evans, SE & Dyas, L (2001) Approaches to learning: a study of first-year geography undergraduates, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 251, pp. 95-107.
Maringe, F Foskett, N & Roberts, D (2009) 'I can survive on jam sandwiches for the next three years': The impact of the new fees regime on students’ attitudes to HE and debt, International Journal of Educational Management, 23 (2), pp. 145-160.
Marriott, A (2007) The transition from A-level to degree geography, Teaching Geography, 321, pp. 49-50.
Mason, K & Pyre, D (2001) Higher Education Summer Schools: Evaluation of the Scheme in 2000, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
Metcalf, H (2003) Increasing inequality in higher education: the role of term-time working, Oxford Review of Education, 29, pp. 315 – 329.
Morgan, J (2002) Constructing school geographies. In Smith, M. (ed) Teaching Geography in Secondary Schools, London: Routledge pp. 40-59.
Ozga, J & Sukhnandan, L (1998) Undergraduate non-completion: developing an explanatory model, Higher Education Quarterly, 52 (3), pp. 316-333.
Pargetter, R (2000). Transition: from a school perspective. Journal of Institutional Research, 9 (1), pp. 14-21.
Patiniotis, J & Holdsworth, C (2003) The choices and experiences of higher education students living in the parental home, Social Policy Conference, Middlesbrough University.
Patiniotis, J & Holdsworth, C (2005) ‘Seize that chance!’ Leaving home and transitions to higher education, Journal of Youth Studies, 8 (1), pp. 81-95.
Pointon, V (2008) Changes in A-level geography and their implications for HE, Planet, 19, pp. 9-11.
Prykett, J & Smith, M (2009) Rediscovering school geographies: connecting the distant worlds of school and academic geography, Teaching Geography, 341, pp. 35-38.
Quinn, J (2004) Understanding working-class 'drop-out' from higher education through a sociocultural lens: cultural narratives and local contexts. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 14, pp. 7-73.
Rawling, E. (1996) School geography: some key issues for higher education, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 20, pp. 305-322.
Read, B Archer, L & Leathwood, C (2003) Challenging cultures? Student conceptions of “belonging” and “isolation” at a post-1992 university, Studies in Higher Education, 28, pp. 261-277.
Reay, D Crozier, G & Clayton, J (2009) ‘Fitting in’ or ‘standing out’: working class students in UK higher education, British Educational Research Journal, 36 (1), pp. 107-124.
Reay, D., Crozier, G & Clayton, J (2009) ‘Strangers in Paradise’? Working class students in elite universities, Sociology, 43 (6), pp. 1103-1121.
Reay, D Davies, J David, M & Ball, SJ (2001) Choices of degree and degrees of choice, Sociology, 35 (4), pp. 855-874
Richardson, M & Tate, S (2012) 'University is not as easy as A, B, C...: how an extended induction can improve the transition to university for new undergraduates', Emerge, 4, pp. 11-25.
Richardson, M & Tate, S (in press) Improving the transition from school to university: introducing student voices into the formal induction process for new undergraduates, Journal of Geography in Higher Education.
Scanlon, L Rowling, L & Weber, Z (2007) ‘You don’t have like an identity… you are just lost in a crowd’: forming student Identity in the first-year transition to university, Journal of Youth Studies, 10 (2), pp. 223-241.
Smith, JP & Naylor, RA (2001) Dropping out of university: a statistical analysis of the probability of withdrawal for UK university students, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society; Series A (Statistics in Society), 164 (2), pp. 389-405.
Sober, R (2011) A creative approach to peer mentoring: utilising experienced students' self-reflection to support new learners, Networks, 12, pp. 22-26.
Stannard, K (2003) Earth to academia: on the need to reconnect university and school geography, Area, 35, pp. 316-32.
Sutton Trust (2000) Entry to Leading Universities. London: Sutton Trust.
Sutton Trust (2008) Ten Year Review of Sutton Trust Summer Schools. London: Sutton Trust.
Sutton Trust (2008) University Admissions by Individual Schools. London: Sutton Trust.
Tate, S & Swords, J (in press) Please mind the gap: students’ perspectives of the transition in academic skills between A-level and degree-level geography, Journal of Geography in Higher Education.
Taylor, N (1998) Survey of paid employment undertaken by full-time undergraduates at an established Scottish University, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 22, pp. 33–40.
Thomas, L (2001) Power, assumptions and prescriptions: a critique of widening participation policy-making, Higher Education Policy, 14 (4) pp. 361 – 376.
Thomas, L (2002) Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional habitus, Journal of Education Policy, 17 (4), pp. 423-442.
UK Youth Parliament (2009) Access Denied; The Stories the Government Does Not Want You to Hear about Tuition Fees. London: UK Youth Parliament.
Watt, SM & Paterson, L (1997) Mid the gap! School to higher education: still bridging the gap, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 21 (3), pp. 317-324.
Wiborg, A (2004) Place, nature and migration: students’ attachment to their rural home places Sociologia Ruralis, 44 (4), pp. 416-432.
Wilcox, P Winn, S & Fyvie-Gauld, M (2005) 'It was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people': the role of social support in the first year experience of higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 30 (6), pp. 707-722.
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Yorke, M (2000) Smoothing the transition into higher education: what can be learned from student non-completion, Journal of Institutional Research, 9 (1), pp. 35-47.