Millions spent but location still key to earning degree

Published on Sunday 18 October 2009 23:10

STARK differences still exist in educational achievement despite millions being spent encouraging youngsters from poorer backgrounds to go to university.

Scotland still lags behind England in academic attainment, according to the UK-wide study, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

The report, which reveals huge contrasts between neighbouring constituencies, raised fears education in Scotland was subject to a "postcode lottery" of achievement, with results driven by where you live.

The authors analysed the number of people of working age in each area who had a university degree or equivalent, as well as those who had no qualifications at all.

Each constituency was ranked, producing a league table that highlighted the extent of the diversity in educational attainment across the country.

The findings also show how far Scotland lags behind England in higher education, with just three constituencies in the list of the 20 best-performing areas.

Edinburgh North and Leith ranked highest in the survey, placing 13th in the UK with 55 per cent of residents holding a degree and just 5 per cent having no qualifications.

Second was Glasgow North, where 53 per cent had degrees and 7 per cent no educational achievement, placing it 17th in the UK league table.

In neighbouring constituencies the picture was more bleak.

Glasgow North East ranked 435 of 628 UK constituencies with just 23 per cent of its working age population holding a degree.

Nearby Glasgow South West fared even worse, with more people in the constituency having no qualifications at all (22 per cent) than with university degrees (19.4 per cent).

Elsewhere, 27 per cent of residents in Midlothian had degrees, comparing poorly to neighbouring Edinburgh South, where 48 per cent achieved university qualifications.

And Aberdeen's two constituencies showed varying achievements, with 47 per cent of Aberdeen South's residents having degrees, compared to 38 per cent in Aberdeen North.

Although many of the locations with the lowest levels of attainment were city-centre constituencies, some regions in the north also fared poorly.

Alex Salmond's constituency – Banff and Buchan – showed only 25 per cent of its working age population holding a degree and 14 per cent having no qualifications at all.

But there was some good news. Achievement rates for degrees in the top Scottish constituencies were discovered to have risen since 2005, with the three best performing areas showing increases of more than 5 per cent each in the number of degrees awarded.

The report, published by the University and College Union which represents more than 120,000 higher education workers in Britain, revealed "the full extent" of the postcode lottery in education achievement and demonstrated the gap between underachieving areas and those with strong attainment levels.

Mary Senior, the UCU's Scottish official, said: "While Scotland is achieving reasonable levels of the population with degrees it lags behind the rates achieved in England.

"However, our investment in higher education means we achieve well overall and do not have any constituencies in the bottom 20 for people with degrees."

She said more effort was required to improve access to university in order to break down "the divide" between Scottish constituencies.

The report was pounced upon by opposition parties in Scotland, who said the results showed Scottish education was "going backwards" under the SNP administration.

Scottish Labour Education spokesman Ken Macintosh said the findings highlighted some "very serious issues", adding: "Unfortunately, the SNP are taking our education system backwards. They have abandoned their manifesto promise to abolish student debt, reduced the number of teachers by 1,000 and failed to build a single new school.

"What we need to now is a step change in education policy to improve attainment at every level from the achievement of basic literacy in our primary schools to wider access to university and support to students from poorer backgrounds."

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Margaret Smith said: "This postcode lottery for educational attainment needs to end. It is neither right nor fair that those living in more deprived areas across Scotland still lag behind those in more affluent areas.

"A good, solid educational base can be a launch pad out of deprivation. That is why it is so important that the Scottish Government gets this right."

Meanwhile, the Conservatives' education spokesman Murdo Fraser said the report demonstrated a link between economic deprivation and poor educational attainment.

He said: "It demonstrates the challenge to government and policy makers of the need to improve educational standards, particularly among our poorest communities."

But the Scottish Government said it was committed to ensuring access to university was based on "the ability to learn and not the ability to pay".

It pointed to decisions such as the abolishment of the graduate endowment fee and increases in student grants and loans that, it said demonstrated its commitment to increasing university participation.

A Government spokeswoman added: "Many institutions also running outreach work in local schools, targeting those least likely to aspire to university – both Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh are examples of where this work is ongoing and successful.

"We also recognise that improving educational success must start in school – that's why through Curriculum for Excellence we are driving forward improvements to learning and teaching with a strong focus on raising the attainment of all pupils. It will also contribute towards improving the health and well being of all pupils to give them a better chance in life.