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UNEQUAL BRITAIN S


ocial mobility, or the lack of it, is back in the news following the release of a University and College Union (UCU) report, Location, Location, Location, and


a speech from the Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, in which he warned that there is no silver bullet when it comes to social mobility.


The UCU report revealed that where you live will determine your chances of educational success and the gap between people living in underachieving areas and those in traditionally strong educational areas is widening, despite £1.9 billion spent on trying to widen university participation since 2005.


Location, Location, Location analysed educational achievement by Westminster parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales and ranked each according to the percentage of people with at least some qualifications and the percentage of people with a degree or above. It also provided analysis of 21 of Britain’s biggest cities by constituency.


It found that the national average


percentage of people of working age with no qualifications in a constituency is 12.4 per cent. The national average percentage of people of working age who have a degree- level qualification or above in a constituency is 29 per cent. The report showed that constituencies with traditionally high academic achievement have pulled further away from those at the other end of the scale. As more people go to university, well-performing constituencies have, perhaps unsurprisingly, continued to enjoy success. However, worryingly, the constituencies at the bottom of the pile have seen academic achievement decline. In the 20 constituencies with the lowest level of participation in higher education in 2008, the proportion, on average, of the working age population with a degree-level qualification or above fell from 12.6 per cent in 2005 to 12.1 per cent in 2008. However, in the 20 constituencies with the highest level of participation in higher education in 2008, the proportion of the working age population, on average, with a degree-level qualification and above increased from 48.8 per cent in 2005 to 57.2 per cent in 2008. The analysis of the different cities exposed some stark contrasts. For example, two out of three people (60 per cent) living in Nick Clegg’s Sheffield Hallam constituency have a degree and only three per cent have no qualifications at all. However, just down the road in David Blunkett’s Sheffield Brightside constituency almost a quarter of people (23 per cent) have no qualifications and just 15 per cent have a degree. The report showed enormous regional variations in educational achievement. Of the 20 constituencies with the highest percentage of people with no qualifications, the West Midlands accounted for eight of them and


occupied the four bottom spots. Labour MP Roger Godsiff ’s Birmingham, Sparbrook and Small Heath constituency has the highest percentage of people with no qualifications (37 per cent) with the Business, Skills and Innovation Minister Pat McFadden’s Wolverhampton South East constituency next (36 per cent).


The other two West Midlands consti- tuencies to make up the bottom four are Labour MP Ken Purchase’s Wolverhampton North East (32 per cent) and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne’s Birmingham Hodge Hill (30 per cent). Hodge Hill also


to education in the capital a true tale of two cities.


Whilst the current government has rightly prioritised investment in education the report showed that the problem is even more deep-seated than previously thought and is a challenge for all the parties. We believe that education holds the key to improving social mobility, tackling poverty and extending opportunity for all. Those with the greatest access to qualifications tend to be healthier, wealthier and more active citizens. Ensuring people, whatever their background, have the best opportunities in life is absolutely vital.


The education gap is widening


Despite well-funded attempts to widen university participation, where you live is still a major determinant of educational success, with constituencies with the lowest levels of participation doing progressively worse, writes SALLY HUNT


has the lowest percentage of people educated to at least degree level – just one in 10. Furthermore, of the 20 constituencies with the lowest percentage of people with degrees, one third can be found in the West Midlands. Although a lot of the constituencies with the lowest levels of educational achievement are traditional ‘Labour’ seats in the larger towns and cities, three constituencies in the East of England feature in the bottom 10 constituencies with the lowest percentage of people who have a degree. Two of the constituencies, Harwich and South West Norfolk, are held by the Conservatives – Douglas Carswell and Christopher Fraser respectively. The other is Labour MP Anthony Wright’s Great Yarmouth consti- tuency, indicating that the issue of providing fair access to education is cross-party. London attracts the highest number of graduates, with 17 of the 25 constituencies that boast the most graduates found in the capital. However, underneath that veneer London has many areas where a substantial percentage of the working-age population have no qualifications at all – making access


Let’s not forget that research has shown students from state schools out-performing their independent-schooled contemporaries when they reach university.


Educational underachievement already costs our country £18 billion a year, so it was extremely encouraging to hear Lord Mandelson reiterate the Government’s noble commitment to widening participation in our universities; something all the major political parties now seem to have come round to supporting.


It was also heartening to hear such honest


words on social mobility. Lord Mandelson is right that there is no silver bullet, but he is equally correct to state that education is the closest thing we have to one. To that end it is absolutely vital that the Government continues to invest in both further and higher education. The first logical step would be to reverse planned cuts of £400 million.


Sally Hunt is General Secretary of the University and College Union. The UCU report can be found at www.ucu.org.uk/ locationlocationlocation.


NOVEMBER 2009 ADULTS LEARNING 15


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