The overall aim is to investigate the role that language and literacy play in the educational and social functioning of young people as they enter adulthood and to identify factors and processes that are associated with positive and negative outcomes. Four work streams will focus on particular objectives as follows: 1. To identify risk and protective factors associated with language and literacy outcomes. In particular we will identify: how speech, language, literacy and cognitive variables cluster and change during childhood; to what extent do language learning and literacy difficulties persist to school leaving age predictors of language and literacy performance at school leaving age; mechanisms and characteristics by which social class impacts upon children's language and literacy during preschool, primary school and at school leaving. 2. To identify the relationship between young people's current and past performance in language and literacy and their decisions about social activities, further education and future employment as they leave school. We aim to identify the patterns of social, educational and employment outcomes at school leaving age that are related to different language learning and literacy trajectories; social conditions that predict young people's perceptions of their own functional language and literacy performance and outcomes. 3. To identify the prevalence of conduct and behaviour disorders, risk taking and criminal offending behaviours in relation to young people's current and past performance in language and literacy. In particular we will identify any subgroups of speech, language and literacy deficits that are associated with raised occurrence of psychopathology and /or conduct disorders and at what age the mental health impact become apparent. 4. To identify the current and predicted social costs and return on investment to society as a whole from support of children's language and literacy skills development through professional involvement of speech and language services. Particular objectives include: What is the relationship between GCSE performance outcomes and the level of support in childhood for language and literacy skills development and how does this translate to economic resource savings in the UK economy? To identify whether children with language and literacy difficulties who have received support in childhood through the professional involvement of speech and language services choose higher skill occupation destinations than who have not received such support and, if so, what are the social costs incurred? To identify the economic benefits in monetary terms of professional involvement in language and literacy skills support for emotionally and socially vulnerable young people. Finally it is also an objective of the project to create an archive of the language samples from 5, 8 and from the young people at 17+.