21 Up New Generation - biographies

John was born, and still lives, in Slough. Having left school at 16 to complete his A levels at college, John worked for five years in a bike shop before joining his step-dad Darren’s building firm, where he is learning the trade on the job. Although they have only just started working together, John and Darren have always been close. To John, Darren is simply ‘Dad’.

John moved out of the family home he shared with his four brothers when he was 18 into a flat of his own. He loves the independence that comes with having a job and his own place. John works to support his passions – music and BMX – which take him all over the UK and the world.

Ryan

Born three months premature, Ryan has cerebral palsy. He lives at home with his mum in Bolton whilst he completes his sports studies degree at a local university. Frustrated by his disability when we filmed him at 14, Ryan is much more independent at 21 - and learning to drive has given him a huge sense of freedom.

At 14, Ryan was playing wheelchair basketball, but he’s since found the sport that he really wants to excel at – wheelchair rugby, otherwise known as murderball! His goal is to play wheelchair rugby for team GB.

Alexandra

Alex grew up in North London, the daughter of a Romanian mother and English father. She was a frequent traveller, as her dad’s job often required him to relocate all over Europe - when we filmed her at 14, she imagined herself living abroad. At 21, we find her in Paris, where she is spending a year as an Erasmus student as part of the degree she is taking at Kings College London.

With her boyfriend in London, and her parents now living in Dubai, Alex has immersed herself in Parisian life, determined to make the most of her year abroad before thinking about careers and what to do next.

Jamie

Jamie was born and brought up in Belfast, where he still lives. His parents split up when he was young, and then his father died when he was nine, so he lived with his mum and brother before moving out when he went to college. He has just started a computer science degree at Queen’s University, Belfast, whilst working part-time designing computer programmes.

In whatever spare time he has, Jamie is passionate about his involvement as a member of the Alliance party. Considering himself neither Catholic nor Protestant, he is committed to campaigning for a party that wants to bring an end to sectarianism in Northern Ireland.

Orala

We first filmed Orala in Hackney, where her Nigerian born mother, stepfather and siblings still live. Orala is now a final year student at Reading University, though she still feels much more at home in London, where she can pursue her passion for songwriting and performing. She considers her sisters to be her best friends, as they all ‘get each other’, and she doesn’t really join in with the social side of university, which seems to her to be mostly about drinking.

A committed Christian, faith plays a large part in determining Orala’s decisions and she feels very secure about her future.

Asif

Asif is the eldest boy of a large Pakistani Muslim family from a suburb of Glasgow. At seven he attended a mosque school every day after school, and at 14 attended the local mosque up to five times a day.

Having been assessed as dyslexic at the age of 13, he found his teenage school years difficult, struggling with confidence.

Now, seven years on, we find him close to completing a law degree at Paisley University, enjoying his studies as well as spending time with friends, music and running.

Stacey

When we filmed Stacey at 14, she’d only left her birthplace of New Mills to go on a family holiday. Painfully shy, she didn’t even enjoy the one time she’d made the 45-minute journey to Manchester, which she found frightening and alienating.

The first member of her family to gain a place at university, Stacey graduated from the University of Lancaster last summer, and with no real idea of what to do next, applied to teach English in China.

At 21, we catch up with her in Changsha, a city the size of London in Hunan Province, Southern China.

Sanchez

A talented footballer at seven and part of the prestigious Leeds United Academy at 14, Sanchez signed his professional contract with the club at the age of 16. His career path has not been so smooth since and his future in the sport isn’t guaranteed.

Still living at the family home in Chapeltown, a suburb of Leeds, Sanchez is very close to both his Mum and Dad, even though they aren’t together.

He’s always had immense pride in where he comes from, and still hangs out with the same group of friends he’s had since he was small – some of whom are experiencing their own success in professional football.

Gemma

Gemma and Ryan met at a club for children with disabilities and were ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ when we filmed them at seven. Gemma contracted a rare virus when she was 18 months old, leaving her with restricted mobility in her arms and legs.

At 21, Gemma is a final year criminology student, approaching graduation with a mixture of excitement and trepidation about what comes next.

Now that her mum has remarried and moved to London, Gemma has moved in with her sister in Bolton, and travels between home, her university in Liverpool and her boyfriend Charlie’s – who she has been with for nearly three years.

Oliver

Oliver, an only child, grew up in West London until he moved away from home at the age of eight to go to boarding school in Oxford. When we filmed him at the age of 14, he was back at home for the holidays, whilst a boarder at Eton.

As well as being talented academically, Oliver became seriously involved in rowing whilst at school, and the sport had taken him to the USA for competition. There, he’d come to the attention of Yale University who offered him a place if he achieved the stringent Ivy League entrance scores.

At 21, we catch up with him in New Haven, Connecticut, in his final year as a Yale student, contemplating his future.

Talan

At the age of seven, Talan was frequently excluded from the classroom and needed full-time supervision from a dedicated classroom assistant. Talan often struggled with friendships with his classmates and neighbours, preferring to be on his own with his mum or pets.

At 14, Talan still described himself as a bit of a loner, and found school a struggle, often finding himself clashing with teachers and other pupils, though he stayed on to complete his A Levels.

Born and brought up in Cornwall, Talan still lives there with his mum, step-dad and step-siblings, while he decides what to do next. Should he take up one of his offers of a place at university or pursue his dream of a career in the military?

Owen

Owen is the youngest of a close family from Cardiff. At seven, he and his siblings were already talented across a number of sports, and spent most days training after school.

By the age of 14, Owen was one of the best swimmers in the country in his age group, and had been selected for a talent squad being coached for the London Olympics in 2012.

At 21, we find Owen still living at the family home in Cardiff, working 12 hour shifts dealing with PPI claims for a bank, saving madly to get his own place. Does he have any regrets?

Courtney

At seven, Courtney, from Kirkby, a suburb of Liverpool, spent a long time dreaming of travel. Desperate to go to America and Australia when we first filmed her, by the time we caught up with her at 14 she’d discovered that she was afraid of flying.

Always a serious student, Courtney did two sets of A Levels, whilst mastering a few unusual languages on the side. She had initially wanted to plan to apply to Oxford, before deciding that the cost of living down South would be prohibitive.

At 21, we find her at freshers’ week at the University of Liverpool, where she’s about to embark on a degree in Law.