This year’s GCSE and A Level results once again shed light on the huge divide in UK education within and between England’s regions. Most will have heard the headline statistic: the proportion of students getting top grades in London and the South East is over 10% higher than in areas like Yorkshire & Humberside. Unsurprisingly, this has reignited the perennial debate on the ‘North/South Divide’ in UK education – which some readers may remember being discussed as far back as Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
There is no doubt that this is an interesting and important topic. Yet, I am concerned that by focussing so heavily on the old North v South chestnut, we risk missing another major area of inequality that is costing the country dearly in human (and indeed actual) capital.
On the surface, the East of England’s results look rather impressive. At GCSE level, 26.2% of eastern pupils achieved top grades, putting the region third overall in England (trailing just behind London and the South East). It’s the same for A Levels, where 36.1% of students got top grades, compared to 39% in London and 39.5% in the South East.
By digging deeper into the numbers, however, we can see that these rosy statistics conceal a troubling achievement gap between different parts of the East. In Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, for example, results sit well above the English average. Yet for those who live in Lincolnshire, Norfolk or Suffolk, the picture is far less encouraging.
In GCSE top grades, Suffolk’s 22.5% puts it below Durham (23%), Lancashire (23.1%) and Nottinghamshire (23.9%), whilst Norfolk’s figure of 20.9% is very nearly the worst in the country. (Only Staffordshire, at 20.4%, is below).
Again, the same pattern emerges for A Levels. In Suffolk, the rate of top grades at A Level is 28.2% – which is second from the bottom of the regional league table – whilst Norfolk (32.4%) and Lincolnshire (30.7%) are also well below par. The upshot of these numbers is that, for large swathes of the East, young people are less likely to get into top universities or apprenticeships – and hence less likely to find high paid jobs.
These disparities are easy to miss when assessing the East in terms of its strong regional average. However, they are an absolutely crucial part of the puzzle if we are to understand many of the social and economic problems still facing the region.
The existence of these educational “blind spots” in the region naturally means a freezing of economic growth in poorer areas, which can have a harmful ripple effect in more prosperous places as well. Poor educational outcomes means an overall shorter supply of skilled entrants into the labour market, which in turn fuels skills shortages and hiring problems region-wide.
Equally, with less well-educated entrepreneurs engaging in start-up ventures as a result of subpar schooling, the general pool of lucrative jobs shrinks – forcing many talented easterners to move out of the region to have the careers they deserve. This “brain drain” (another old chestnut) robs the East of the fruits of its homegrown talent, and leaves the region in the thrall of its lowest-performing education zones.
What’s behind this problem? A big part of the answer is likely the lower amount of public investment the East receives each year (40% less Levelling-Up funding than other regions), and in particular lower-than-average education spend (£1,357 in the East compared with £1,428 nationally).
The Eastern Powerhouse, a business-led partnership set up by policy think tank ResPublica which I work with, has been making this case since launch: the East has been neglected when it comes to government investment, and this shortfall is creating unnecessary economic hurdles for a region that could contribute so much more.
Whilst the North/South Divide is a well-established bugbear for education reformers (as it should), it would be wise to remember that the East of England also lags behind on government support. Education in the East, despite its strong regional average, remains deeply lopsided and unequal – creating skills shortages and wide employment gaps that are scuppering growth.
Organisations like the Eastern Powerhouse are doing great work in highlighting issues such as these to government. However, for real change to be achieved, it is vital that the ‘East/South Divide’ be given the political attention it deserves. Over to you, Team Truss or Sunak.
Andy Forbes is a former FE College Principal in Hertfordshire, London, and Bristol. He is now Head of Development at ResPublica, which set up the Eastern Powerhouse in March this year.
