Year 12 Sociology Students Talk

On Monday, our Year 12 Sociology Students had the opportunity to hear from Bruce Balden, a participant in the UP series, through Teams. Here are two student reports :

“The Up series was created in 1964 by Michael Apted, with the first instalment ‘Seven Up’. There were originally 14 participants, who were asked a series of questions based on proving the idea “Give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man”. The series continued every seven years with the last instalment in 2019 called 63 Up. When it comes to sociology it is an extremely important study, not only as it is a strong example of a longitudinal study but also as it explores the life courses of individuals from varied social backgrounds and how this has affected their opinions on social issues and their access to opportunities. Also the study can be used to explore how the media has changed over time and its changing effects on the participants. It has been recently announced that there will be one final episode of this series, being released in 2026, now that the participants are now 70.”

“As a class we were fortunate enough to talk to Bruce Balden and ask him questions about his time on the series. When he was first introduced on the series he went to a prestigious boarding school but aspired to help those less fortunate and become a missionary or a school teacher in disadvantaged areas. After graduating Oxford university, he went on to teach at a comprehensive school in London’s East End, he then moved to Bangladesh where he taught maths in a local school and helped develop their teacher training courses. The series explored his personal life and his journey getting married and having two sons but also his difficult relationship with his father who was living in Zimbabwe. When asked about his experiences on the Up series Bruce spoke positively and how he felt comfortable to be himself and answer honestly. When it comes to his time on the show he believes he was accurately represented and that in his opinion he can see the similarities between him at 7 and who he is now.”