Education and qualifications

Last updated: June 2024
Next estimated update: June 2025

What does this indicator show?

This indicator shows the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Inner and Outer London, as well as the rest of England. 

The attainment gap shows how many more students who weren’t disadvantaged gained Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A Levels) than those who were disadvantaged. For this indicator, someone is counted as disadvantaged if they were eligible for Free School Meals at the end of Key Stage 4.

At the bottom of the page we can see how the attainment gap differs across London boroughs.

What does it tell us?

The attainment gap is lower in Inner London than in Outer London and lower in Outer London than it is in the rest of England. 

In Inner London in 2022/23, disadvantaged students were less likely to have gained Level 3 …

Last updated: September 2024
Next estimated update: April 2025

What’s this indicator?

This indicator shows the percentage working-age adults in London that are employed, split by their highest qualification level. It shows the employment rate for people:

• With no qualifications
• Whose highest qualification is RQF1 (GCSE grades 3-1, or D to G)
• Whose highest qualification is RQF2 (GCSE grades 9-4 or A* to C)
• Whose highest qualification is RQF3 (A levels and equivalent)
• Whose highest qualification is RQF4+ (apprenticeships, degrees and above)
• With other qualifications (such as those from other countries)

What does it tell us?

Employment rates are, on average, higher amongst people with higher levels of qualifications. For example, in 2023 89% of Londoners aged 16-64 with qualifications higher than A-levels (such as university degrees) were employed comp…

State-educated students in London have higher GCSE attainment rates than those in England as a whole. 71.2% of students in London achieved grades 9-4 (A*-C under the old grading system) in GCSE English and Maths in 2022/23 (down from 74.3% in 2020/21). This is compared to 65.4% in all of England (down from 69% in 2020/21).

Almost all London boroughs have a higher GCSE attainment rate than the average rate in England. The boroughs with the highest GCSE attainment rates are Sutton, Kingston upon Thames, Barnet and Richmond upon Thames, which all saw over 80% of their students achieving grades 9-4 in English and Maths in 2022/23.

Just four London boroughs have a lower GCSE attainment rate than the average rate in England. The boroughs with the lowest GCSE attainment rates are Lewisham and Lambeth, with 61% and 62.9% of their students achievin…

Ofsted ratings are given to schools by inspectors and range from “Inadequate” to “Outstanding”. Ratings are based on a range of observations about a school's performance.

This indicator shows that, on average, the better a school’s Ofsted rating is, the less deprived a neighbourhood it tends to be located in.

While this is true across the country, the relationship is less pronounced in London than in the rest of England. This means that children in London who live in deprived neighbourhoods are more likely to have a school with a good Ofsted rating in their neighbourhood than those living in deprived neighbourhoods in the rest of the country.

This is particularly true for London secondary schools, where there is not a clear relationship between schools’ Ofsted rating and the deprivation of the neighbourhood in which they are located, i…