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Government concern with underachievement in certain school environments and the relatively poor staying-on rates into post-compulsory education and training in particular urban contexts has led to the development of work-related/work-based alternative curricula as a way of re-motivating and re-engaging those young people classified as being 'at risk' or disaffected. This article examines one such program and other research conducted by the Post 16 Studies Unit on disaffected/disenfranchised young people. The article suggests the need for a much more detailed analysis of wider socio-cultural factors that impact on young people and hence on their agency. By appreciating more fully how various networks of influence affect young people, particularly in relation to social and cultural forms of learning and the opportunities for enhancing social capital, we may be in a better position to understand both how and why particular work-related programs impact differently on similarly categorised 'at risk' people in school and hence in general terms, understand more fully those factors which schools and curriculum planners may need to be aware of in designing such programs.