Highest level of qualification
Key points
With 28.2% of residents aged 16 and over with level 1 or no qualifications Lancashire-12 had a higher rate than England (27.8%). At 36.4% Blackpool was ranked 16th highest.
Lancashire-12, all of the Lancashire-12 districts and Blackburn with Darwen had slightly higher proportions of the resident population aged 16 and over than England (35.6%) for the medium level qualifications. Hyndburn and South Ribble had very high rankings of 11th in England and Wales for apprenticeships at 7.3%. Lancaster and West Lancashire had high rates of level 3 qualifications ('A' level and equivalent) at 22.6% and 21% respectively, giving these authorities rankings of 4th and 14th in England and Wales.
30.6% of residents in the Lancashire-12 area had the highest level of qualification, which is degree or equivalent and above. This was higher than the Lancashire-14 rate (29.5%) but lower than England (33.9%). Ribble Valley had a higher rate at 39.7%, but was still only ranked 63rd in England and Wales.
No qualifications
Level 1 + entry level: GCSE Grades 1-3 or D-G; Entry level certificate
Level 2: CSE Grade 1; GCSE Grades 4-9 or A*-C; O level Grades A-C
Apprenticeship*
Level 3: A level; AS level
Level 4 or above: HNC; degree
Other qualifications
*Intermediate apprenticeship=level 2; Advanced apprenticeship=level 3; Higher apprenticeship=level 4
Table 1: Highest level of qualifications, Lancashire districts to England (table scrolls to right)
| Highest level attained | Lancashire-12 | Burnley | Chorley | Fylde | Hyndburn | Lancaster | Pendle | Preston | Ribble Valley | Rossendale | South Ribble | West Lancashire | Wyre | Blackburn with Darwen | Black-pool | Lancashire-14 | North West | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (none and 1) | 285,362 | 26,715 | 24,429 | 17,523 | 21,796 | 29,192 | 26,645 | 34,222 | 10,861 | 16,105 | 23,138 | 26,546 | 28,190 | 41,891 | 42,252 | 369,505 | 1,757,782 | 12,773,987 |
| Low (%) | 28.2 | 35.5 | 25.3 | 25.3 | 33.2 | 24.4 | 35.4 | 28.8 | 21.1 | 28.1 | 25.3 | 27 | 29.9 | 35.1 | 36.3 | 29.6 | 29.2 | 27.8 |
| Medium (2,3 & apprenticeships) | 391,533 | 27,945 | 37,197 | 26,047 | 25,626 | 48,848 | 27,113 | 43,319 | 19,081 | 22,357 | 36,986 | 39,908 | 37,104 | 41,947 | 44,741 | 478,219 | 2,234,992 | 16,358,042 |
| Medium (%) | 38.7 | 37.2 | 38.6 | 37.6 | 39 | 40.8 | 36 | 36.5 | 37.1 | 39 | 40.4 | 40.6 | 39.3 | 35.1 | 38.5 | 38.3 | 37.1 | 35.6 |
| High (4) | 310,083 | 18,299 | 32,614 | 23,868 | 16,514 | 38,664 | 19,085 | 37,641 | 20,456 | 17,565 | 29,235 | 29,460 | 26,682 | 32,054 | 26,177 | 368,314 | 1,880,049 | 15,606,458 |
| �High (%) | 30.6 | 24.3 | 33.8 | 34.5 | 25.2 | 32.3 | 25.4 | 31.7 | 39.7 | 30.7 | 32 | 30 | 28.3 | 26.8 | 22.5 | 29.5 | 31.2 | 33.9 |
| Other | 25,945 | 2,240 | 2,129 | 1,809 | 1,696 | 2,937 | 2,379 | 3,487 | 1,064 | 1,271 | 2,140 | 2,418 | 2,375 | 3,616 | 3,170 | 32,731 | 152,812 | 1,268,468 |
| Other (%) | 2.6 | 3 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
Source: Census 2021: Topic summary TS067- Highest level of qualification
Low qualifications (No qualifications, level 1 and entry level)
With 28.2% of residents aged 16 and over with level 1 or no qualifications Lancashire-12 had a higher rate than England (27.8%). With rates of 35.5% and 35.4% Burnley and Pendle were ranked 25th and 27th highest respectively out of 331 local authorities in England and Wales. At 36.4% Blackpool was ranked 16th highest.
No qualifications.
Lancashire-12 plus six of the Lancashire-12 areas and both of the unitary authorities had higher proportions of the resident population with no qualifications than the England average of 18.1. Pendle's proportion of 24.8% was ranked 16th highest. High proportions were also seen in Blackpool (24.6%, rank = 18) and Burnley (24.4%, rank = 21).
Medium level qualifications (levels 2, 3 and apprenticeships)
Lancashire-12, all of the Lancashire-12 districts and Blackburn with Darwen had slightly higher proportions of the resident population aged 16 and over than England (35.6%). The rates are closely bunched, with a population variance of just 2.67 percentage points for the Lancashire-12 districts. The rates for residents whose highest level of qualification is a type of apprenticeship was relatively low, at 6.4% in the Lancashire-12 area and just 5.3% in England. They did rise to 7.3% in Hyndburn and South Ribble, giving them very high rankings of 11th in England and Wales. Lancaster and West Lancashire had high rates of level 3 qualifications ('A' level and equivalent) at 22.6% and 21% respectively, giving these authorities rankings of 4th and 14th in England and Wales. This looks as though the large numbers of students attending the University of Lancaster, Edge Hill University and others are skewing these figures. Because the table used for this study (TS067) uses a population base of 16 and above we can see that some of these had not completed their education.
High qualification level (level 4)
30.6% of residents in the Lancashire-12 area had the highest level of qualification, which is degree or equivalent and above. This was higher than the Lancashire-14 rate (29.5%) but lower than England (33.9%). Ribble Valley had a higher rate at 39.7%, but was still only ranked 63rd in England and Wales. The highest ranking authorities for level 4 were London Boroughs with City of London highest at 74.2%. Cambridge was ranked 10th with 55.8%. It is interesting that the City of London was ranked last for all other levels of qualification.
Other qualifications
This category had by far the lowest values and the rates were very similar throughout, those for Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 being 2.6% and for England 2.8%. In the Lancashire-14 area Ribble Valley was lowest with 2.1% and Pendle highest at 3.2%
The district maps in the panel on the right show rates for all seven qualification levels (but not totals) for districts and can be zoomed in to show rates for middle layer super output areas (MSOAs) and still further to show census output area values.
Page created June 2024