Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Scotland the best educated country in Europe, claims ONS report

 

Ian Johnston
Friday 06 June 2014 01:01 BST
Comments
Scotland is the best educated country in Europe, according to the ONS
Scotland is the best educated country in Europe, according to the ONS (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Scotland is the best educated country in Europe, according to a report released by the Office for National Statistics.

It says that nearly 45 per cent of people in Scotland aged between 25 and 64 have had some kind of tertiary education – including university degrees and further education — ahead of Ireland, Luxembourg and Finland, which were the only other countries to get more than 40 per cent.

“In terms of the proportion of the population going into higher and tertiary education, Scotland actually has just about the highest in the world,” ONS chief economic adviser Joe Grice told ITV News.

“Scotland also does very well in terms of people in the working-age population (16-64) that have got a qualification at NVQ4 or above.”

The UK as a whole was in fifth place on just under 40 per cent, followed by Cyprus, Estonia and Sweden. Just over 30 per cent of French had a tertiary qualification, while Germany’s figure was less than 30 per cent.

While Scotland may have the most skilled staff, the London workers were ranked as the most productive.

The ONS said Londoners were the most productive with their “nominal gross value added per hour worked” at more than 30 per cent above than the UK average. The south east of England was in second place with about eight per cent.

All the other regions of the country were below the UK average. Scotland was in third place with Wales and Northern Ireland at the bottom of the table.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in