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Wandsworth home to more adults with degrees than anywhere else in UK

Summary:

Figures show that 54% of adults in the borough have a degree.

Image:

By Alex Finnis

Wandsworth can officially give itself a distinction, as new statistics show that it is home to more adults with degrees than anywhere else in the UK.

The borough also has one of the fewest numbers of people to leave school without any qualifications, and it is joined by other South West London boroughs Kensington and Chelsea and Richmond upon Thames at the top of the table.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that 54% of Wandsworth adults have a degree, whilst just one-in-ten leave school before gaining any qualifications.

The data has heightened concerns about the gulf in education between rich and poor areas – four-in-ten people leave school without any qualifications nationwide.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: “The results show a close association between the level of qualifications and the deprivation of the area.

“Whether this is because of the lack of incentive to get qualifications or a deficiency in the local education system, this issue has to be investigated.”

In Kensington and Chelsea, 53% of adults hold a degree. The figure is the same for Richmond upon Thames, whilst in Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham it is 50%.

Unsurprisingly, the most educated authorities outside of London are Cambridge and Oxford, with 47% and 42.6% respectively.

Photo courtesy of David Michael Morris, with thanks.

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