Framing youth educational choices at the end of compulsory schooling: the Catalan case Aina Tarabini, Marta Curran, Alba Castejón, Alejandro Montes (Autonomous University of Barcelona) Chapter included in the book: Tarabini, A., Ingram, N. (Eds.) (2018). Educational Choices, Transitions and Aspirations in Europe: Systemic, Institutional and Subjective Challenges. London: Routledge Introduction The transition to upper secondary education is of crucial importance within the EU Strategic Framework on Education and Training 2020. According to Eurostat 2015 data, 11.1% of young people aged 18–24 had left education and training without completing any upper secondary programme, while the EU target is to decrease this rate to less than 10% by 2020. The case of Spain is one of the most alarming of all the EU28 countries, as the rate of Early School Leaving i still counts for 20% of its young people (18.9% in the specific case of Catalonia). This represents the highest level in the EU and surpasses the national European target of 15%. Official national and regional discourses and policy documents in this field commonly frame this transition as a matter of individualistic and rational choice, related to young people’s achievement, talents and personal aspirations. In fact, as it is the first transition after the end of compulsory schooling in Spain, it is understood as the first in which a ‘real choice’ for young people is provided. It is a choice that is expected to mainly rely on individual interests and possibilities as the two main drivers guiding these transitions. According to that logic, hegemonic conceptions of upper secondary transitions in Catalonia and Spain are highly decontextualized in political, social and institutional terms. In this context, the objective of this chapter is to demonstrate that upper secondary educational transitions in Catalonia ii are mediated by three main kinds of elements: systemic, institutional and teacher-related. These mediations are of crucial importance in order to understand the construction of educational aspirations and expectations