• The top 20 constituencies for opportunity are all in London, and only eight out of the top 50 are outside the capital.
  • Huge difference in education and employment outcomes for poorest young people in highest and lowest ranked constituencies – those in East Ham were over three times more likely to become top earners compared to Newcastle Upon Tyne Central and West.

New research today lays bare how where you grew up determines young people’s ability to get on in life. The Opportunity Index, published today by the Sutton Trust, uses data on over 10 million young people across two decades to provide the most detailed ever look at the geography of opportunity and social mobility in England.

The data reveals that London constituencies occupy all the top 20 for opportunity, and 42 of the top 50 constituencies. Meanwhile, the North East and North West are overrepresented among the lowest ranked areas for opportunity, as are constituencies dominated by towns and semi-rural areas.

The social mobility charity has ranked constituencies in England by the school attainment, access to higher education, employment status and earnings of young people eligible for free school meals (FSM) at secondary school. You can find out how each constituency ranks via this interactive map.

A tale of two cities

Overall, East Ham in London is ranked as the top constituency for opportunity in England, with Newcastle Upon Tyne Central and West ranked lowest. The difference in prospects for social mobility between these two constituencies is stark, especially as both areas have similar levels of free school meal eligibility (37% and 35% respectively).

Between these two areas, there is a 30 percentage point difference between the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals achieving passes in English and maths GCSE, and a 45 percentage point gap in the proportion going on to sustained education or employment after GCSEs. FSM pupils from East Ham are also over three times more likely to have a degree by age 22, at 35%, compared to those in Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, at 10%.

Young people who had received free school meals in East Ham are also over three times more likely to reach the top fifth of earners, compared to those in Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (20% compared to 6% respectively). Average earnings at age 28 are almost £7,000 lower for FSM pupils from Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West compared to East Ham.

Moving on up

Across all regions, migration from one region to another is linked to achieving higher earnings on average. However, young people eligible for free school meals only benefited from this trend in London and the East of England.

Carl Cullinane, Director of Research and Policy at the Sutton Trust, explained: ‘While the traditional view of migration is of young people moving to London, the capital actually has the joint highest level of young people moving out to another region by age 28.

‘London and the East of England also have the highest rates for disadvantaged young people moving elsewhere by the age of 28, at 13% compared to just 6% of those from the North East. All 20 constituencies with the lowest proportion of free school meals pupils who leave their region are found in the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.’

London constituencies comprise all except three of the top 20 with the highest progress 8 averages, a common measure of the academic progress students make between the end of primary school and the end of secondary school. The other three are Manchester Rusholme, Leeds North East, and South Norfolk.

And post-school destinations are also drastically different across regions. Only 53% of FSM pupils from the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber were in education, an apprenticeship, or employment at age 28. This is well below the 68% national average for all pupils in England.

Young people who had received free school meals in Ruislip Northwood and Pinner (London) were six times more likely to reach the top quintile of earners, compared to those in the lowest ranked area of Leeds East (25% compared to 4% respectively). Average earnings at age 28 were also lowest for FSM pupils from Yorkshire and the Humber, at £15,176, and highest in London, at £20,080.

Inequality within regions

The research also reveals high levels of inequality in employment and training status across constituencies within the same regions, judging by levels of those not in sustained education, employment or training.

‘We’ve found drastic inequalities of opportunity across the South East, which is typically thought of as a prosperous region’, said Carl Cullinane.

‘Sevenoaks in Kent is the English constituency with the highest proportion of free school meals pupils not in education or employment at the age of 28, at 57%. But Bicester and Woodstock in the same region has the lowest rate at 30%. That’s a huge difference in employment outcomes for the poorest young people even within the same region.’

This research underscores the scale of the Government’s challenge in delivering its mission to ‘Break down barriers to opportunity’. The Sutton Trust is therefore calling for the forthcoming Spending Review to provide investment to tackle educational inequality across the country. This should include reforming the national funding formula for schools, so those facing the highest needs have adequate funding. And pupil premium funding which supports disadvantaged pupils should be increased, as its real terms value has fallen by 20% since 2014/15.

Nick Harrison, CEO of the Sutton Trust, said, ‘This research paints a startling picture of inequality of opportunity across England. The life chances of disadvantaged young people remain strongly tied to where they grow up.

‘If the Government genuinely wants to break down barriers to opportunity, we need serious investment in education and economic opportunities in the ‘left behind’ parts of the UK. Failing to act is damaging the life changes of too many of the next generation.’

Media contacts:

Notes to editors:

An interactive map is available here, and the full list of constituencies ranked by opportunity is available here.

The Opportunity Index is based on data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset, linking educational data for all pupils in state schools in England, to earnings and benefits records in adulthood. Equivalent data is not available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so the report focuses on England only. It includes cohorts from those who took their GCSEs in 2002, to those who took them in 2024. Depending on the measure, the most recent data has been used to provide as up to date a picture as possible, and in most cases several year cohorts have been pooled in order to maximise statistical power.

Data by constituency corresponds to the area where a pupil grew up and attended secondary school. Eligibility for Free School Meals (FSM) aged 16 is used here as the primary indicator of socio-economic disadvantage.

A broad variety of indicators of educational and employment outcomes have been collected for each constituency, from GCSE results, to the number of those not in sustained education training or employment, to average earnings from employment, as well as the proportion who move away from their ‘home’ area as adults.

An ‘Opportunity Index’ for each constituency narrows this down to six key indicators of opportunity for Free School Meal eligible pupils:

  • School: Attainment 8 score (based on best GCSE results across 8 subjects).
  • Post-16: A Level results (based on Average Points Score)
  • Post-16: Percentage in sustained education/employment after KS4.
  • Post-18: Percentage with degree by age 22.
  • Employment: Average earnings at age 28.
  • Employment: Percentage in sustained employment at age 28.

The Z-scores (distance from the average) for Free School Meal pupils have been combined to find an average score across these measures. These scores have then been ranked to indicate where barriers to opportunity are the highest, as well as the lowest, for FSM pupils compared to the average young person in England.