NEWS Regional education gaps could
TfL calls on London schools to support walking and cycling to school
Transport for London (TfL) is calling on London schools to join its accreditation programme to encourage sustainable travel to school, to help improve air quality, health and safety. It follows a 10% increase in schools achieving the highest ‘Gold’ status last academic year. TfL’s Travel for Life programme supports the next generation of Londoners to travel towards a brighter, safer and more sustainable future. By completing activities that promote walking and cycling to school and the safe use of public transport, primary and secondary schools can become Bronze, Silver or Gold accredited. The programme is administered by London Transport Museum in partnership with London’s Borough Officers.
To achieve Gold accreditation, a school must have reduced car use by 6% or achieved 90% of the school run being made using sustainable transport. The number of schools awarded Gold in 2024 was 735, a 10% increase compared to 2023.
Bromley currently has the largest proportion of Gold schools, at an impressive 63%, followed by Islington at 49% and Havering at 45%. Meanwhile Waltham Forest currently has the largest overall number of schools participating in the TfL Travel for Life programme, with 81% of its schools involved. Bromley and Islington also have large numbers of schools participating, with 74% and 71% of schools respectively.
St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Brent recently achieved Gold accreditation, having only signed up to TfL Travel for Life in March 2023. The school is taking several actions including measuring the air quality in its immediate surroundings, holding assemblies and creating a podcast on active travel.
TfL Citizens, delivered by London Transport Museum, is one of the five TfL Travel for Life programmes and is for children aged 10-11. It now has more than 100,000 pupils and 91% of London schools taking part, preparing children for travelling to secondary school and teaching skills such as journey planning.
lead to skills divide across UK People in London (66%) are twice as likely to hold a degree than rural regions such as Greater Lincolnshire (33%), fuelling a growing skills divide
across the UK, warns the Learning and Work Institute. The Institute’s latest report highlights that economic growth in the UK is at risk due to a stark skills divide among regions, with London and the South- East continuing to attract highly qualified workers, leaving other regions trailing behind in educational attainment.
If the trend continues, by 2035, 71% of Londoners and 65% of adults in Scotland are estimated to hold a degree, compared to just 29% in East Yorkshire and 39% in Norfolk.
27% of adults in the West Midlands have qualifications below GCSE level, compared to just 9% in West London, a gap wider than in Ireland, Norway or Finland.
Laura Lodwick, Chief of Hub Operations for Talent for and Digital, said: “For the UK to grow as a whole, the government, local councils and regional businesses need an aligned investment strategy across education and training and a strategy to retain top local talent.”
Closing the skills gap between London and the rest of the UK would require an additional four million non-Londoners to obtain a higher education qualification.
In England, the recently set up Skills England is in charge of overseeing training and education, as well as reforming the apprenticeships system, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own agencies. A push for skills in the UK will be important for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Plan for Change, which has promised “more people in good jobs, higher living standards, and productivity growth in every part of the United Kingdom.”
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, said: “From a policy perspective, the government’s pledge to break down opportunity and focus on disadvantaged children within its Plan for Change is key. “Digital sits at the heart of education, with a move towards examinations taking place online rather than written, and with nine in 10 students surveyed expected to complete homework or coursework online. “We must see this as part of this provision for children to access technology in the classroom, and teach digital literacy including critical thinking and online safety. Taking this approach across the country will ensure children in all schools are given at least a basic level of digital education.”
Education among UK’s most successful sectors
New research has revealed the best growing industries for businesses in the UK. Experts at MRP software collected business birth and death data from the Office for National Statistics to calculate each industry’s success rate from 2022 to 2024.
Businesses in the education sector have grown by 3.27%, making them the third most successful. The education sector has seen 1,535 new businesses prosper since 2022, now comprising 1.80% of all businesses and 1.62% of business births.
The education sector includes any establishment involved in pre- primary, primary, secondary and any level of higher education such as post-graduate. It also involves the teaching of technical, vocational, cultural, sports, recreational, and driving activities. The health and social care industry topped the list. Businesses in this sector have grown by 8.06% since 2022. This means that 8,540 new businesses have succeeded in this industry. Health and social
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care businesses now make up 4.26% of all businesses in the UK and 3.89% of all business births in these two years.
Businesses in this industry are involved in any hospital, dental or medical activities, medical nursing at home, any form of residential care and social work or children’s daycare activities. In second place came the real estate industry, with a growth rate of 5.06% between 2022 and 2024. There have been 5,620 new business registrations in this industry.
This was followed by the construction industry, experiencing a 1.93% growth over two years, with 7,250 new businesses thriving during this period.
Taking fifth place among the best industries for British businesses is arts, entertainment, recreation and other services, growing by 1.83% between 2022 and 2024.
January 2025
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