It finds the UK has larger gaps in workforce skills between different parts of the country than most other European countries, and that closing the gap between London and the rest of the UK would require 4.1 million more people to gain higher education qualifications outside London.

This latest analysis, covered by the Guardian on 6 January 2025 finds that:

• You are three times as likely to be qualified below GCSE level in the West Midlands (27%), the area with the worst qualification profile, than in West London (9%), the area with the best qualification profile.
• Another 290,000 people, the equivalent of the population of Coventry, would have GCSE-equivalent qualifications in the West Midlands if the UK had lower inequality like in Denmark, France and Sweden.
• The UK’s postcode lottery in skills is on track to worsen over the next decade: while 71% of Londoners may have a higher education qualification by 2035, only 29% would in Hull and East Yorkshire.

The missing 4 million graduates risk holding back economies outside London, and improving skills in an area on its own will not be enough. Without action to improve jobs and opportunities across the country, people in low-skill areas who gain new qualifications may continue to follow the better-paid jobs into cities like London, Leeds, Bristol and Brighton.

NOCN Group chief executive Graham Hasting-Evans, says:

“This latest report from Learning & Work Institute provides yet more evidence for why the Government’s proposals for Skills England do not go anywhere near far enough. As an international skills charity, we are always looking at what we can learn in the UK from other global economies and it is disappointing to see us continuing to fall behind European counterparts, especially when it comes to geographical inequality. Successful skills systems need a local approach and this regional imbalance must be addressed for us to make progress as a competitive national globally.”

Learning & Work Institute’s first Ambition Skills report ‘The great skills divide’, also supported by NOCN Group, showed the UK lagging other countries on skills, with government funding £1 billion lower in England than in 2010 and employers investing 26% less per employee than in 2005.

Read the full report here.