Distribution of parental education
Published:
11 September 2024
Updated:
18 December 2025
see all updates
Data on the highest qualification levels of parents in families with dependent children.
Summary main findings
The qualifications of young people’s parents have improved over time.
42% of adults in families with dependent children had a degree or above in 2022, up from 30% in 2014.
While more children are growing up in families educated to degree level, there is still a considerable percentage of families whose highest qualification is GCSE or below – 30% in 2022 (down from 33% in 2014).
By year
Visualisation
Percentage of adults in families with dependent children in different education levels, over time (UK, 2014 to 2022)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | Lower level (below CSE grade 1) (%) | O level, GCSE and equivalent (%) | A level and equivalent (%) | Further education (%) | Degree and above (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 13.5 | 17.3 | 19.1 | 8.1 | 42.1 |
| 2021 | 13.5 | 13.0 | 23.4 | 8.6 | 41.5 |
| 2020 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 24.8 | 9.3 | 39.3 |
| 2019 | 15.9 | 13.7 | 25.1 | 9.3 | 36.0 |
| 2018 | 15.8 | 14.8 | 25.1 | 9.2 | 35.1 |
| 2017 | 15.8 | 14.7 | 25.4 | 10.0 | 34.1 |
| 2016 | 16.4 | 15.0 | 25.3 | 10.0 | 33.3 |
| 2015 | 16.9 | 15.8 | 25.3 | 10.3 | 31.6 |
| 2014 | 17.2 | 16.3 | 26.5 | 10.3 | 29.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage of adults in families with dependent children with a higher education qualification, by region (UK, 2014 to 2022 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 40.4 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 48.6 |
| Cheshire | 44.8 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 30.6 |
| Cumbria | 26.8 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 30.1 |
| Devon | 34.6 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 32.9 |
| East Anglia | 30.6 |
| East Wales | 36.1 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 24.9 |
| Eastern Scotland | 39.2 |
| Essex | 29.0 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 39.9 |
| Greater Manchester | 33.6 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 36.9 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 35.6 |
| Highlands and Islands | 33.0 |
| Inner London - East | 47.3 |
| Inner London - West | 65.4 |
| Kent | 32.6 |
| Lancashire | 28.0 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 30.3 |
| Lincolnshire | 23.0 |
| Merseyside | 31.8 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 38.2 |
| North Yorkshire | 36.5 |
| Northern Ireland | 30.8 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 28.5 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 41.3 |
| Outer London - South | 49.3 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 50.7 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 28.7 |
| South Yorkshire | 27.5 |
| Southern Scotland | 28.5 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 43.1 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 24.7 |
| West Central Scotland | 32.2 |
| West Midlands | 28.1 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 27.0 |
| West Yorkshire | 29.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Labour Force Survey (LFS), Office for National Statistics.
Time period
- 2014 to 2022 (By year)
- 2014 to 2022 combined (By area)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the education levels of adults in families with dependent children. Dependent children are classed as all children aged 15 and under, and 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education. Adult respondents aged under 21 years old are not included.
The education levels are:
- lower level (below CSE grade 1)
- O level, GCSE and equivalent
- A level and equivalent
- further education (below degree level)
- degree level and above
Things you need to know
The data for people with below degree level qualifications in 2022 is not directly comparable to previous years. This is due to a change in the LFS methodology.
The median age of survey respondents was 40 years old. The majority of respondents are likely to be the parents or carers of dependent children. Some could be adults living in homes with parents who have dependent children.
Data is weighted using LFS person weights.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 82KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
- Variable used
- Weight used
- Age used
- Year used
- Label
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024
Updated:
18 December 2025
Full page history for this edition
-
18 December 2025
We have corrected an error in the ITL2 estimates for this indicator; composite indices were unaffected. -
11 September 2024
First published