With 47.7 per cent of working age (16-64) residents holding at least degree level qualifications, Buckinghamshire ranks 3rd highest among England’s 27 county council areas and 4th among the 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships, well above the 38.6 per cent recorded across Great Britain. There were 10,100 people of working age with no qualifications living in Buckinghamshire in 2016, representing 3.1 per cent of working age residents.

Educational attainment is particularly high in Chiltern, where 61.9 per cent of working age residents hold degree level qualifications, the 11th highest share of all 380 local authority districts in Great Britain, ahead of South Bucks (48.3, 52nd), and Aylesbury Vale and Wycombe (both 44.2, 86th).

The national distribution of degree level attainment by local authority is presented in the map at the end.

Table 1: Qualifications held (cumulative), working age (16-64) residents, 2016

Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS 2018

Buckinghamshire’s strength on the cumulative measures is driven by the high share of working age residents with degree level attainment and those qualified to NVQ level 3.  When considered by NVQ level a different pattern emerges.  Although 53,840 Buckinghamshire residents have a highest qualification at NVQ level 2, this represents only 16.8 per cent of working age residents, below the national share and the 3rd lowest among LEPs, ahead of London and Oxfordshire.  At 12.3 per cent, Buckinghamshire’s share of residents with a highest qualification at NVQ level 1 is the 4th lowest of any county council area and 8th lowest among the 38 LEPs.  The full results are presented in table 2 and charts 1 and 2 below.

Table: Highest qualifications held (residents aged 16-64), 2017

Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS, 2018

Chart 1: Highest qualification held (GB=100)

Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS, 2017

Of all Buckinghamshire’s economically active (i.e. employed or unemployed) residents, 50.8 per cent hold degrees, rising to 53.4 per cent for women.  Only 2.4 per cent of Buckinghamshire’s economically active residents have no qualifications (rising to 2.7 per cent for men).

All Buckinghamshire’s districts have a higher share of residents holding qualifications at NVQ levels 3 and 4+ than the country as a whole, with the exception of Chiltern where the share of residents with degree level qualifications squeezes the share with a highest level of attainment at NVQ 3.  All other levels are underrepresented in all districts, with the exception of Aylesbury Vale where the 14.8 per cent of working age residents holding highest qualifications at NVQ level 1 is above the national level, ranking the 170th highest among the 380 local authorities in Great Britain.

Buckinghamshire has very high rates of educational attainment among older workers, ranking 1st among county council areas and LEPs for residents aged 50 and over, and 2nd and 3rd respectively for residents aged 25 to 49.  However, among younger residents degree level attainment falls below the national level to rank 10th among county council areas and 18th among LEPs, with the strength of London skewing the distribution, as shown in table 3 below.  However, when residents in their 20s are considered, Buckinghamshire’s performance is among the strongest in the country, ranking 2nd among LEPs for degree level attainment for residents aged 20-24 and 3rd for those aged 25-29 at 39.3 and 56.0 per cent respectively.

Table: Degree level attainment by age, 2016

Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS, 2018

Educational attainment is higher among women than men, with 50.2 per cent of working age women in Buckinghamshire holding degree level qualifications compared to 45.1 per cent of men. However, only 2.9 per cent of men hold no qualifications compared to 3.4 per cent of women.  Of those in employment, 53.7 per cent of women hold degree level attainment compared to 48.5 per cent of men, while only 2,600 women with no qualifications are employed, representing 2.1 per cent of all working age resident women, compared to 3,800 men (2.7 per cent of all employed male residents).

An overview of NVQ levels can be found here >