School belonging and generation 1.25: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Generation 1.25 international new arrivals are young people who moved to the UK during adolescence (ages 13–17). This group is distinguished from first or second generation immigrants by the developmental window during which they migrate – a period in which identity is actively being negotiated alongside the onset of puberty and the development of social belonging. Unlike first generation immigrants who arrive as adults with more established identities, Generation 1.25 students have begun forming their sense of self in their home country but are still in the process of negotiating it during migration. This developmental timing may make them particularly sensitive to the social and institutional environments they enter. This study explores how Generation 1.25 students experience and develop a sense of school belonging in UK secondary schools. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was conducted, drawing on ten individual interviews across five participants. The initial interviews used a lifeline grid and semi-structured interviews, followed by a second member checking interview. Six Group Experiential Themes were developed, suggesting that belonging for this group is partial, relational, and sustained through ongoing negotiation rather than achieved through a definitive moment. Participants described belonging as having a ceiling that time and effort alone could not raise, as grounded in specific relationships rather than institutions, and as shaped by the ongoing labour of linguistic navigation, family dynamics, temporal trajectories, and cultural in-betweenness. These findings have implications for Educational Psychology practice by highlighting the importance of relational approaches to supporting the transition and belonging of Generation 1.25 students in schools.