EUROPEAN COMMISSION
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 14 September 2012
Report highlights major geographic disparities in
education
Where you live in Europe can strongly influence your education and prospects in life,
according to a new European Commission report. The report, entitled 'Mind the Gap education inequality across EU regions', highlights significant disparities in education
opportunities and results across - and within - Member States. There appears to be a
North-South divide in educational attainment, with the highest rates of low-qualified
people, with lower secondary education or less, chiefly found in southern European regions
and especially in Portugal and Spain. In contrast, the regions with the lowest rates of lowqualified people are mostly found in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Sweden. Geographic inequalities in education persist despite commitments by Member
States to promote equity in education and training. The report – the first of its kind – calls
on EU countries to work harder to reduce these inequalities.
"All European citizens should benefit from high quality education and training - irrespective
of where they live. It is time to deliver on the commitments which have been made.
Tackling geographic inequality in education is a pre-requisite for balanced regional
development and social cohesion. The European Structural Funds can and should be used
to help address inequalities," said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for
Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
The report shows that the regions with the highest proportion of individuals with tertiary
education qualifications (with a bachelor or master's degree or equivalent) are mostly
found in the UK, the Netherlands, northern Spain and Cyprus. The regions with the lowest
rates of tertiary education graduates are in Italy, Portugal, Romania and the Czech
Republic. The report also highlights significant regional disparities in terms of adult
participation in lifelong learning.
IP/12/960
Next steps
In November the Commission will adopt its strategy on "Rethinking Skills" which will
underline the need to address geographic disparities in education. In 2013, the
Commission will present further evidence and policy advice to Member States on how to
improve equity in education and training. A second report on the geography of
educational inequality in the EU will be published in 2013.
Regional disparities within Member States
 Students in tertiary education as a proportion of the population aged 20-24:
the widest regional disparities are in Belgium (best: Brussels Capital, 120.7%*;
worst: Province of Luxembourg, 23.4%) followed by the Czech Republic (best:
Prague, 100%; worst: Střední Čechy, 5.6%) and Austria (best: Vienna, 100%;
worst: Voralberg, 7.3%). * Ratio can be higher than 100% in regions with several
tertiary education institutions (usually capital regions) which attract a large student
population and a large number of students older than 20-24.
 Geographical accessibility to tertiary education – the percentage of people
living more than 60 minutes from the nearest university: Spain has the biggest gap
between its best and worst performing regions (best: Madrid and País Vasco, 0%;
worst: Ceuta, 99.7%). It is followed closely by Greece (best: Attiki, 1.2%; worst:
Ditiki Makedonia, 100%), Finland (best: Etelä-Suomi, 1.2%; worst: Åland, 88.5%)
and Bulgaria (best: Yugozapaden, 14.4%; worst: Severozapaden, 97.4%).
 Ratio of tertiary education graduates among the population aged 15 or
over: In eight Member States, there is a difference of more than 15 percentage
points between the top and worst performing regions. The UK has the biggest gap
(23.4 percentage points, best: Inner London, 41.8%; worst: Tees Valley and
Durham, 18.4%), followed by France (21.3 percentage points, best: Île de France,
33%; worst: Corsica, 11.7%), the Czech Republic (18.8 percentage points, best:
Praha, 25.8%; worst: Severozápad, 7%), Spain (17.6 percentage points, best: País
Vasco, 34.3%; worst: Extremadura, 16.7%), Slovakia (17.1 percentage points,
best: Bratislavský kraj, 27.2%; worst: Východné Slovensko, 10.1%) and Romania
(15.4 percentage points, best: Bucureşti–Ilfov, 22.5%; worst: Sud-Muntenia, 7.1%).
 Proportion of the population with low educational qualifications: France has
the highest regional disparity (best: Alsace, 32.9%; worst: Corsica, 60.1%),
followed by Greece (best: Attiki, 37%; worst: Ionia Nisia, 64.1%), Spain (best:
Madrid, 44.2%; worst: Extremadura, 67.4%), Romania (best: Bucuresti-Ilfov,
21.9%; worst: Nord-Est, 42.8%) and Germany (best: Chemnitz, 11.9%; worst:
Bremen, 30.6%).
 Adult participation in lifelong learning: The UK has by far the biggest regional
disparity (best: Inner London, with 16.1% of the population aged 25-64 in lifelong
learning; worst: Northern Ireland, 5.7%).
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Background
The 'Mind the Gap - education inequality across EU regions' report was compiled for the
European Commission by the network of experts in social sciences of education and
training (NESSE). The team of authors is led by Dr Dimitris Ballas of Sheffield University,
UK.
The report draws on Eurostat data and contains over 100 maps which visualise regional
disparities. It identifies the top 10 and bottom 10 EU regions for each of the indicators it
examines. Other key findings from the report are:
 Regional disparities in learning hinder balanced regional development and economic
growth;
 Regional disparities in education compound inequality between EU regions. They also
encourage brain-drain towards the more developed regions;
 The nature, scale and effects of educational inequalities vary considerably across EU
regions. Policy solutions must be tailored rather than generic;
 Effective use of the European Structural Funds can help redress regional disparities
in education and their effects;
 More systematic collection of data at sub-regional level is necessary to improve the
knowledge base and to inform policy-makers on this topic.
For more information
Full report and executive summary
European Commission: Education and training
Androulla Vassiliou's website
Follow Androulla Vassiliou on Twitter @VassiliouEU
Contacts :
Dennis Abbott (+32 2 295 92 58); Twitter: @DennisAbbott
Dina Avraam (+32 2 295 96 67)
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ANNEX
Figure 1: People with low educational qualifications (with at most pre-primary,
primary and lower secondary education as % of the population aged over 15)
Regions with highest share of people with at most pre-primary,
primary and lower secondary education (levels 0-2, ISCED 1997)
as % of the population over 15 years old
Regions with lowest share of people with at most pre-primary,
primary and lower secondary education (levels 0-2, ISCED 1997)
as % of all population over 15 years old
Alentejo (PT)
78.4
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (DE)
16.3
Centro (PT)
Norte (PT)
Malta (MT)
Algarve (PT)
Extremadura (ES)
Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla (ES)
Castilla-La Mancha (ES)
Lisboa (PT)
Ionia Nissia (EL)
78.2
77.7
74.2
71.7
67.4
65.0
64.8
64.5
64.1
Brandenburg – Nordost (DE)
Sachsen-Anhalt (DE)
Bratislavský kraj (SK)
Brandenburg – Südwest (DE)
Leipzig (DE)
Thüringen (DE)
Dresden (DE)
Chemnitz (DE)
Praha (CZ)
16.2
16.0
14.1
14.0
13.4
13.1
13.0
11.9
10.7
The region of Alentejo in Portugal has the highest rates of low-qualified people. Praha in
the Czech Republic is the EU region with the lowest rates of low-qualified people.
The International Standard Classification of Education (I S C E D 1997) covers the
following levels: level 0 - pre-primary education; level 1 - primary education or first stage
of basic education; level 2 - lower secondary or second stage of basic education; level 3 (upper) secondary education; level 4 - post-secondary non-tertiary education; level 5 first stage of tertiary education; level 6 - second stage of tertiary education.
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Figure2. Lifelong learning - participation of adults aged 25-64 in
education and training (as % of total population)
Regions with highest participation of adults aged 25-64 in
education and training (as % of total population)
Regions with lowest participation of adults aged 25-64 in
education and training (as % of total population)
Hovedstaden
19.2
Severozapaden
0.27
Inner London
Midtjylland
Highlands and Islands
Syddanmark
Sjælland
Nordjylland
Etelä-Suomi
Åland
Västsverige
16.1
15.8
15.2
15.0
14.9
14.2
13.8
13.6
12.8
Notio Egeo
Sterea Ellada
Yugoiztochen
Severoiztochen
Yuzhen tsentralen
Severen tsentralen
Ionia Nisia
Vorio Egeo
Sud – Muntenia
0.39
0.45
0.45
0.47
0.50
0.52
0.52
0.60
0.70
The region of Hovedstaden in Denmark has the highest rate of adults in lifelong learning.
Severozapaden in Bulgaria has the lowest.
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Figure 3: Persons with tertiary education – (levels 5-6, ISCED 1997) as
% of all persons aged 15+
Regions with highest share of people with a tertiary education
qualification (levels 5-6, ISCED 1997) as % of all persons aged
15+
Regions with lowest share of people with a tertiary education
qualification (levels 5-6, ISCED 1997) as % of all persons aged
15+
Inner London (UK)
41.8
Basilicata (IT)
8.6
Prov. Brabant Wallon (BE)
Stockholm (SE)
País Vasco (ES)
Prov. Vlaams-Brabant (BE)
Utrecht (NL)
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale /
Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (BE)
Île de France (FR)
Noord-Holland (NL)
Hovedstaden (DK)
38.1
34.5
34.3
34.1
34.1
33.9
Centro (PT)
Provincia Autonoma Bolzano/Bozen
(IT)
Puglia (IT)
Alentejo (PT)
Valle d'Aosta (IT)
Nord-Est (RO)
Sud-Est (RO)
Sud – Muntenia (RO)
Severozápad (CZ)
8.5
8.5
33.0
32.8
32.3
8.4
8.4
8.3
8.2
7.5
7.1
7.0
The region with the highest rate is Inner London in the UK; the lowest rate of tertiary
education graduates is found in Severozápad in the Czech Republic.
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