This study argues that the long-standing difficulties in addressing educational disadvantage point to the need to change the analytical categories used and takes territoriality as an analytical lens to explore how students perceive their place in the world. The study presents the results of a qualitative study investigating how 222 14-19-year-old vocational education students in Italy, France and Greece perceive a scenario of possibility. The results from reflexive cartographies and elicitation interviews show that a significant percentage of students with similar socio-economic characteristics have difficulty imagining and narrating scenarios about their possible future selves, and that there are similar themes and patterns in all three countries. The article argues that the above findings reveal hidden forms of vulnerability that impact on students' academic trajectories and concludes by pointing out the analytical value and policy implications of the above findings in discussing educational disadvantage.