30% of people aged 16 years and over hold a degree or similar qualification in Birmingham.
The percentage of people in Birmingham holding a level 4 qualification — a group that includes those with a higher national certificate, national diploma, university graduates and postgraduate qualification — has risen by 6%, according to census data.
The Office for National Statistics also shows that 21% of people in the West Midlands hold no qualifications.
The figure marks a decrease when compared with the 27% of respondents who said they held no qualification in 2011.
The ONS warned that this year’s results are not directly comparable to previous census data due to differences in question structures.
However, the latest figures indicate that more people are more highly educated than in previous census results.
33.8% of residents in England and Wales held a level 4 qualification or above in 2021, up from 27% in 2011 and 20% in 2001.
However, there are regional differences in the level of qualification of people in London and southern regions of England compared to northern regions.
Nearly half (46.6%) of people in London hold a degree or similar. The percentage was “considerably higher” than all other regions.
The Higher Education Policy Institute think tank director, Nick Hilman, described the numbers as “stark” and said how “important” education is in “true levelling up”.
“If other areas are to compete with London, they need similar levels of investment and commitment. The jury is out on whether that is likely to happen given recent political changes,” Hilman said.
“You literally cannot regenerate an area without the presence of educational institutions that train local people to higher levels and which attract investment by working with employers to co-design courses and tackle real-world challenges.”
18.2% of people aged 16 and above hold no qualification at all.
The West Midlands was the region with the highest proportion of persons without any educational qualifications at 21%.
“The skills gap between North and South is a serious issue. Alongside education, it is the most significant driver of why productivity is lower here than in London and the South East, as highlighted by the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review,” says the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic chief executive Henri Murison.
“More skills devolution is already on the cards for Greater Manchester and it cannot come soon enough. Whitehall continues to make unwise decisions in this area and our metro mayors would be far better placed to join the dots between skills policy and local industry need.
“Skills levels in key capabilities in the Northern economy, including advanced manufacturing and energy, have lagged behind the national average for many years now. This is a risk for the zero transition, as we need to be gearing up now to build and run assets like small modular nuclear reactors or hydrogen-powered trains.
“At the Convention of the North later this month we will be pushing hard for Michael Gove to rapidly devolve skills budgets as part of supercharging all of the economic drivers for the North.”
