FIGURES from a new study have placed Reading as the fifth most intelligent town or city in England, according to Uni Compare.
Uni Compare analysed statistics covering the 23 most populated towns and cities, calculating an ‘Education Score’ to rank them.
The score was created by combining statistics on what proportion of the population has a graduate degree and the normalised GCSE attainment 8 scores for each area.
An Attainment 8 score is a way of measuring how well pupils do in Key Stage 4, which they usually finish when they are 16 years old, and combines grades given for eight core subjects to create a score between 10 and 90.
Data was collected from the government database of GCSE results and population statistics from the Office for National Statistics.
London ranked highest, with an overall score of 88.13, followed by Kingston-Upon-Thames in second with a score of 69.6.
Oxford ranked third with a score of 47.53, and Brighton fourth with a score of 44.36.
Reading ranked fifth with an overall score of 42.31, as a result of a normalised GCSE Attainment 8 score of 50.1, and a graduate population proportion of 40.4%.
Bristol ranked sixth, followed by Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, and Newcastle rounding out the top 10.
Owen O’Neill, Founder of Uni Compare, commented: “These findings paint a vivid picture of England’s educational landscape, with a clear North-South divide seen in the data–while London’s dominance might be expected, the gap between southern and northern cities should be a concern for policy-makers and educators alike.
“University cities like Oxford predictably perform well, but some traditionally overlooked areas have climbed the ranks. Brighton and Reading, for example, are becoming intellectual hubs in their own right, which speaks to how regional economies are evolving.
“Most concerning is how the bottom-ranked cities are predominantly in the North and Midlands, highlighting a persistent inequality in educational opportunity–when areas like Stoke-on-Trent have graduate populations that are a third of London’s, we’re looking at fundamentally different prospects for young people depending on where they grow up.
“This isn’t about league tables, it’s about creating a country where talent and potential can flourish regardless of geography.
“These results should serve as a catalyst for targeted educational investment in underperforming regions to ensure all students have pathways to success.”
Uni Compare provides assistance for prospective university students and offers a number of resources such as statistics, reviews, course matching, and open day signposting.
More information is available via: universitycompare.com
