The Opportunity Index

Opportunity is not evenly spread across the country. A young person’s socio-economic background – including the income level of their family, their parents’ educational qualifications, and their family’s wealth – all play a critical role in shaping their future.

But as well as variations between families and across socio-economic groups, Britain is also highly divided geographically. It is a country in which where you grew up can have as much, if not more impact, than your family’s individual socio-economic circumstances.

In this report, we provide the most detailed ever look at the geography of opportunity and social mobility in England. We closely examine how socio-economic background, geography and opportunity interact, with data looking at both parliamentary constituency and regional level in England. From educational attainment, to opportunities in higher education and employment, the research compares the outcomes of young people across the country, with a particular focus on the chances of social mobility for young people from lower income homes.

Alongside the brief, we have published an interactive map. The map uses our rankings of constituencies in England according to a range of measures across the life-course, from school attainment to earnings, for young people eligible for free school meals (FSM) at secondary school, allowing for a more granular look at outcomes in different areas across the country.

The Opportunity Index interactive map

We have 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.

Use the map to look at individual constituencies across the country and explore the data.

Browse the map

of the top constituencies for opportunity in the country are in London, with just eight out of the top 50 being outside of the capital.

£7,000

Average earnings at age 28 are almost £7,000 lower for FSM pupils from Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (North East) compared to East Ham (London).

FSM pupils from Ruislip Northwood and Pinner (London) are over six times more likely to become high earners than those in Leeds East, at 25% compared to 4% respectively.

Key Findings

The 20 constituencies with the highest ranking for opportunity are in London, with East Ham ranked top. Amongst the top 50 constituencies, all bar 8 are in London.
The highest ranked area outside of London is Birmingham Perry Bar (West Midlands), at position 23. The lowest ranked London borough is Orpington, at 327th.
Comparing the highest ranked area of East Ham (London) to the lowest ranked area of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (North East) shows a 30 percentage point gap in achievement of GCSE grade 5 in English and mathematics between FSM pupils in both areas.
FSM pupils from East Ham are 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%.
Whilst 18% of FSM pupils from London are in the top 20% of earners at age 28, only 7% of those from the North East are, as are 7% from the North West and 7% from Yorkshire and the Humber.
FSM pupils from Ruislip Northwood and Pinner are six times more likely to fall in this top 20% of earners compared to those in Leeds East, at 25% compared to 4% respectively.

Recommendations

Gaps in opportunity open up early. To close them, the government should have a renewed national focus on closing the attainment gap between lower-income children and their peers. This should include:

Equalising access to early education, by making at least 20 hours of provision available to all three- and four-year-olds.
Reforming the National Funding Formula, to rebalance funding back towards schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.
Ensuring no child is hungry in school by expanding free school meal eligibility to all children on Universal Credit.
Reducing social segregation in schools by making admissions policies fairer.
Funding evidence based interventions in schools, like tutoring.
Incentivising the best teachers to work in the most disadvantaged schools, by making changes including enhancing financial incentives and increasing flexibility.
Restore pupil premium funding in real terms, and extend it to post-16 institutions. The attainment gap doesn’t end at 16, and neither should dedicated funding.

While changes in the education system do matter, the education system alone cannot eradicate the attainment gap. The government should implement a comprehensive plan to reduce, and ultimately to end child poverty in the UK.

Steps should be taken to increase the supply of apprenticeships for young people, and tackle barriers for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This should include increasing financial incentives for employers, ringfencing Levy funding for younger age groups, and a review of support provided to young apprentices.

Government should redouble efforts on access to Higher Education, including increasing the maintenance support available for students, and stronger regulatory expectations for universities with a focus on socio-economic disadvantage – including encouraging a clear and consistent approach to contextual offers.

Barriers to accessing professional jobs for those from disadvantaged backgrounds should be tackled, including banning unpaid internships and contextual recruitment practices.

Economic policy should focus on spreading opportunity across the country. Opportunities for social mobility will only be available nationwide if there is a more even spread of economic opportunities across the country. This should be a sustained effort across government, potentially including greater devolution of powers and reforms to funding for local government, as well as greater investment in infrastructure regionally – including transport, and opportunities for education and training.

The Opportunity Index interactive map

Related Research

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