The psychological construct of resilience was of relevance to young people in the present study, with several themes reflecting factors that have been shown to impact on resilience in a positive or adverse way. Young people's comments showed that they were not protected from all negative experiences, but were able to succeed in the face of such adversity due to a number of factors that provided a buffer against it. Their comments illustrated their own views of the perceived significance of relationships, support and personal qualities that had
contributed to them participating at GCSE.