THE people of London’s deprived East End are right at the bottom of the pile when it comes to getting university degrees. They live in areas with the worst percentage of qualifications anywhere in Greater London—and one of the worst in Britain, according to a damning report by academics
UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE UNION PRESS RELEASE
date: Thursday 15 October 2009
embargo: 00.01 hours Monday 19 October
THE people of London's deprived East End are right at the bottom of the pile when it comes to getting university degrees.
They live in areas with the worst percentage of qualifications anywhere in Greater London-and one of the worst in Britain, according to a damning report by academics this-morning.
The report by the University & College Union ranks 29 London Parliamentary constituencies with higher-than-average percentages of people with no qualifications at all.
It exposes the full extent of the 'postcode lottery' when it comes to educational achievement.
Labour minister Jim Fitzpatrick's Poplar & Canning Town constituency is one up from bottom of all 74 London constituencies, with three-out-of-four of the adult population, 25 per cent, without a degree.
Neighbouring Respect MP George Galloway's Bethnal Green & Bow is two up from bottom with 22 per cent.
Bottom of the pile is Cabinet Minister Margaret Hodge's Barking constituency with just over 25 per cent.
Most academic London constituencies, by contrast, are in the leafy suburbs of Richmond (top) and Hampstead & Highgate (second).
London attracts large numbers of graduates, with 17 of its 25 constituencies boasting the higher-than-average percentage of graduates.
But underneath that veneer, the UCU report exposes areas like the East End where people are missing out on higher education.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "This shows the divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots' is growing by where you live. It must act as a wake-up call to politicians to recognise the power of education to change people's lives."
Other East London constituencies with poor percentage rates are Walthamstow and Dagenham, both 20 per cent, West Ham, East Ham and Leyton & Wanstead, around 19 per cent, Hackney South & Shoreditch 16 per cent, Hackney North & Stoke Newington 14 per cent and Chingford & Woodford 10 per cent.
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