Socio-cultural advantage
Data on ‘sociocultural advantage’ in UK regions – measured by parental education (university degree), parental occupation (higher professional), and professional work for young people.
Visualisation for
Index of sociocultural advantage, by region (UK, 2014 to 2021 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest composite scores. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Areas with the highest scores have the highest levels of sociocultural advantage.
Data for
| Region | Index of sociocultural advantage | Quintile |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 0.56 | 5 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 0.72 | 5 |
| Cheshire | 0.57 | 5 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 0.17 | 1 |
| Cumbria | 0.19 | 2 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 0.29 | 2 |
| Devon | 0.34 | 3 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 0.43 | 4 |
| East Anglia | 0.37 | 4 |
| East Wales | 0.35 | 3 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 0.05 | 1 |
| Eastern Scotland | 0.35 | 3 |
| Essex | 0.29 | 3 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 0.45 | 4 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.34 | 3 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.50 | 5 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 0.48 | 4 |
| Highlands and Islands | 0.14 | 1 |
| Inner London - East | 0.50 | 4 |
| Inner London - West | 1.00 | 5 |
| Kent | 0.34 | 3 |
| Lancashire | 0.21 | 2 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 0.33 | 3 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.00 | 1 |
| Merseyside | 0.26 | 2 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 0.44 | 4 |
| North Yorkshire | 0.42 | 4 |
| Northern Ireland | 0.27 | 2 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 0.20 | 2 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 0.41 | 4 |
| Outer London - South | 0.64 | 5 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 0.55 | 5 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 0.25 | 2 |
| South Yorkshire | 0.00 | 1 |
| Southern Scotland | 0.09 | 1 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 0.65 | 5 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.05 | 1 |
| West Central Scotland | 0.29 | 3 |
| West Midlands | 0.19 | 1 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 0.00 | 1 |
| West Yorkshire | 0.25 | 2 |
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Summary main findings
The areas with the highest levels of sociocultural advantage in the UK include:
- parts of London
- Surrey and Sussex
- Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire
- Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
- Cheshire
The least advantaged areas include:
- The Highlands
- West Wales and the Valleys
- Cornwall
- Lincolnshire
- South and East Yorkshire
Some areas have high levels of both advantage and disadvantage. For example, most of London is in the top 20% of areas for sociocultural advantage, but also the worst 20% for childhood poverty and disadvantage.
About the data
This page combines data from the following 3 indicators into a single ‘composite’ score to give a more reliable picture of geographical mobility patterns:
- Distribution of parental education – data on parents with a university degree
- Distribution of parental occupation – data on parents in higher professional occupations
- Type of employment opportunities for young people – data on young people in higher professional occupations
Indicators are rescaled to make sure they use a common metric. The best-performing area’s score is set to 0, and the least well-performing area’s score is set to 1.
See the technical annex for more information on how each area was scored.