Educational attainment: The West of England’s competitive advantage

The West of England has a higher proportion of highly-educated people than the rest of England. A larger proportion of people in the region have university degrees, especially in STEM subjects. This underpins a strong job market for professional and skilled work, and reinforces the region’s position as a hub for industries that rely on knowledge and highly-skilled expertise. But, this is not uniform across the West of England, with clear differences between the local authorities, which highlights the need for targeted policies that physically connect the region via transport links, and link its residents to the right jobs.

Educational attainment – the West of England’s competitive advantage

The West of England has a clear and growing educational advantage compared with the rest of England. Almost half (46.9% in 2024) of the region’s residents have a degree or higher qualification, compared with 37.6% in the rest of England (see Table 1).

This gap is visible across all higher qualification levels. The West of England has a higher proportion of residents than the rest of England with an undergraduate degree (25.7% compared with 19.0%), a Master’s degree (8.5% compared with 6.8%) and a PhD (2.3% compared with 1.4%).* These gaps have been consistent or growing over the last decade, indicating a structurally strong skills base rather than a short-term fluctuation.

Table 1: Distribution of educational qualifications by region, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey *Note: The ‘degree or higher’ category includes higher‑level technical and vocational qualifications in addition to undergraduate, master’s and PhD degrees, so individual degree categories do not sum to the total.

Among graduates, the West of England also shows distinct subject specialisations. Around 47.3% of graduates have their highest qualification in a STEM field, compared with 43.3% in the rest of England (see Table 2). This is partly offset by a lower share of graduates in business and law (15.7% versus 18.5%), while the share in other subjects is broadly comparable. These differences have remained largely stable over the past decade, pointing to a sustained comparative strength in STEM-related skills in the region

Table 2: Distribution of graduate field of study by England and West of England region, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on ONS Annual Population Survey

Professional performance

The region’s high education levels are reflected in the kinds of jobs people hold, with a substantial number of residents working in professional and skilled roles. Professional occupations - such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects – account for 61.0% of employment in the West of England (in 2024), compared with 53.3% in the rest of England, a gap of 7.7 percentage points (see Table 3). At the same time, the region has lower shares of semi-professional occupations e.g. police officers, estate agents, nurses, lab technicians (23.2% versus 26.9%), and routine occupations e.g. care assistants, receptionists, cleaners, retail assistants (15.8% versus 19.8%).

Over the last decade, the share of professional occupations has grown strongly in the West of England. Although the gap with the rest of England narrowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion of professional roles has accelerated since 2022, while the national trend has plateaued. Meanwhile, the proportion of semi-professional and routine roles has declined in both the region and nationally, but this drop has been more pronounced in the West of England, particularly in the post-pandemic period.

Table 3: Distribution of occupation type by England and West of England region, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on ONS Annual Population Survey

A tale of two tiers

While the West of England has a higher proportion of highly educated people than the rest of England, education levels vary across the region. Understanding these differences is important because skills and education play a key role in supporting fair economic growth and productivity.

Two distinct groups emerge when examining education levels across the region. The first – Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) – forms the core of the West of England’s graduate economy. This reflects their concentration of universities and knowledge-intensive businesses, which creates a mutually reinforcing ecosystem wherein high levels of graduate supply and demand sustain one another.

The second group – South Gloucestershire and North Somerset – have education profiles closer to the national average. This reflects a more limited local higher education supply and greater outward mobility of graduates towards metropolitan areas.

What does attainment look like across the region?

Progression through cumulative educational qualifications is mixed across the region. Table 4 shows the proportion of local authority populations moving through level 1 (GSCEs), levels 2-3 (Tech Levels, apprenticeships and A-levels), levels 4-5 (higher apprenticeships and diplomas) and level 6+ (degrees, degree apprenticeships and above).

The difference in the share of graduates is particularly notable. For Bristol and BANES, approximately one in two people is a graduate, whereas for North Somerset the figure is one in three. South Gloucestershire sits between the two. These differences are reflected in the geographies and institutions in these areas. North Somerset is the only local authority area without a main university campus that trains degree-level graduates, which places greater emphasis on attracting graduates, whereas the other areas have talent pools that result from both graduate retention and attraction. Comparatively low proportions of graduates in South Gloucestershire and BANES reflect their larger geographic area compared to Bristol, limiting the impact of their universities across their populations at large.

Table 4: Distribution of educational qualifications by West of England regions, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on ONS Annual Population Survey

Although Bristol leads all areas in terms of its proportion of graduates, other local authorities compensate by outperforming Bristol in their share of high-level technical qualifications. The three other local authority areas have higher shares of people with both sub-degree (levels 4-5) and A-level-equivalent (level 3) qualifications. The proportion of Bristol residents with A-level-equivalent qualifications (11.3%) is a particular outlier as it is around half that for the rest of England (21.7%).

This composition of skills also reflects the economic character of the local authority areas. Bristol has a strong concentration of businesses in the legal and insurance sectors, both of which typically require a high proportion of degree-level employees. In contrast, South Gloucestershire has a high proportion of manufacturing and engineering businesses whose workforces draw on both graduate and technician-level STEM skills, often developed through apprenticeships (Department of Education, 2025: 47; Owen, 2026).

The low proportion of graduates in North Somerset reflects lower overall qualification levels, with the area also having the largest share of residents whose highest attainment is GCSEs (approximately one in four). Yet, strong educational performance can mask internal disparities: Bristol’s high graduate population is offset by a comparatively high proportion of people with lower or no formal qualifications.

Conclusion

The West of England has a sustained and growing competitive advantage in educational attainment, characterised by higher degree-level qualifications, a strong STEM graduate base and a labour market increasingly weighted towards professional occupations. This skills profile supports the region’s position as a high-skill, knowledge-intensive economy and enhances its attractiveness to innovative and research-driven firms.

Despite this, imbalances within the region persist. North Somerset has a substantially lower share of graduates and a much higher proportion of residents whose highest qualification is GCSEs. In South Gloucestershire, strong attainment of A-levels and sub-degree level qualifications does not translate into graduate representation.

This pattern suggests a leakage in the regional skills pipeline despite good access to post-16 education and proximity to universities across the region. These leakages can be addressed through horizontal enablers such as transport connectivity, ensuring access to continued education is not constrained by geography within the region.

Degree-level qualifications should not be seen as the only indicator of success. Strong levels of qualifications below the degree level show the importance of matching all qualifications to relevant, high-quality jobs, while areas where educational attainment is lower highlight the need for support at every stage of the skills pipeline. All levels of educational attainment are crucial for ensuring inclusive and sustainable economic development in the West of England.

References

Department of Education (DfE) (2025) Skills England: Driving growth and widening opportunities. GOV.UK. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66ffd4fce84ae1fd8592ee37/Skills_England_Report.pdf

Owen, M. (2026). ‘Pathways that work: why technical skills are vital to the UK’s industrial future’, NCC. Available at: https://www.nccuk.com/insight-impact/pathways-that-work-why-technical-skills-are-vital-to-the-uk-s-industrial-future/