Promising prospects
Data on the UK regions with the most 'promising prospects' for 25 to 29 year olds – measured by levels of university education, professional work, and earnings.
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Index of 'promising prospects', by region (UK, 2018 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 most promising prospects for young people.
Data for
| Region | Index of 'promising prospects' | Quintile |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 0.64 | 5 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 0.42 | 4 |
| Cheshire | 0.16 | 2 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 0.23 | 2 |
| Cumbria | 0.36 | 3 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 0.25 | 2 |
| Devon | 0.43 | 4 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 0.45 | 4 |
| East Anglia | 0.00 | 1 |
| East Wales | 0.34 | 3 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 0.32 | 3 |
| Eastern Scotland | 0.00 | 1 |
| Essex | 0.42 | 4 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 0.21 | 2 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.26 | 2 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.28 | 3 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 0.42 | 4 |
| Highlands and Islands | 0.29 | 3 |
| Inner London - East | 0.64 | 5 |
| Inner London - West | 0.51 | 5 |
| Kent | 0.29 | 3 |
| Lancashire | 0.00 | 1 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 0.47 | 5 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.12 | 1 |
| Merseyside | 0.28 | 3 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 0.37 | 4 |
| North Yorkshire | 0.59 | 5 |
| Northern Ireland | 0.25 | 2 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 0.18 | 2 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 0.71 | 5 |
| Outer London - South | 0.50 | 5 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 0.60 | 5 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 0.27 | 2 |
| South Yorkshire | 0.08 | 1 |
| Southern Scotland | 0.13 | 1 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 0.87 | 5 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.04 | 1 |
| West Central Scotland | 0.30 | 3 |
| West Midlands | 0.39 | 4 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 0.30 | 3 |
| West Yorkshire | 0.10 | 1 |
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Summary main findings
Young people brought up in London, Surrey and Sussex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and North Yorkshire tend to have the best prospects in terms of attaining higher qualifications, higher earnings and a professional job.
Young people brought up in more rural or remote areas, and in some former industrial areas, tend to have worse prospects.
Prospects for young people may be different within these broad areas – particularly in regions like North Yorkshire, which contains both remote rural and urban areas.
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:
- Highest qualification – data on young people with university degrees
- Occupation level – data on young people in professional occupations
- Hourly earnings – data on young people's earnings at work
The data is adjusted for socio-economic background, so it measures how promising the prospects are of young people from similar social backgrounds.
Indicators are rescaled to make sure they use a common metric. The best-performing area’s score is set to 1, and the least well-performing area’s score is set to 0.
See the technical annex for more information on how each area was scored.
Data source
Labour Force Survey pooled, from 2018 to 2021.
Areas are those where respondents lived when they were 14 years old.