United Kingdom
An Office for National Statistics analysis of towns and cities in England and Wales in 2021 identified that a high share of 16 to 24 year olds in the population was linked to the presence of a university, across all sizes of town and city outside of London. One of the main findings was that: "While most small towns had a relatively low share of 16- to 24-year-olds, shares were higher in the small number of small towns with a university." The average proportion of 16 to 24 year olds across England and Wales was 10.69 per cent. [7] The presence of a university has also been linked to a high proportion of the population working in education; the top quintile for this across all built-up areas in England and Wales is 14.1 per cent and above. [8]
The UK settlements with the highest proportion (over 30 per cent) of full-time students are St Andrews in Scotland (53 per cent), Aberystwyth and Bangor in Wales (both 42 per cent), and Durham and Canterbury in England (both 35 per cent). With the exception of Canterbury, these towns are dominated by a single institution that was established as a university or university college before the end of the 19th century. Canterbury has three universities – one established in the 1960s and two that became universities in the 21st century.
England
Towns and cities with a university and a high proportion of 16 to 24 year olds (over 75 per cent above the average across England and Wales) in 2019 are listed below, [9] [a] along with the 2021 population of their built up area (BUA), [10] the 2020/21 enrolment in their universities, [11] [b] the proportion of people in the BUA employed in the education sector [8] and the proportion of people in the BUA who identified in the census as full-time students (England average 7.7 per cent). [12]
The BUA with the highest proportion of full-time students is Durham, with 35 per cent of the economically active population, closely followed by the multi-university city of Canterbury. The largest BUA to have over 20 per cent of its population composed of full-time students is Nottingham, at 24 per cent, with a population of almost 300,000, while the largest BUA containing only a single major institution is Exeter, with a population of over 125,000 and 21 per cent full-time students.
| Town name | Universities | 16 to 25 | Population | Enrolment | Ratio | Employment in education | Full-time students |
|---|
| Penryn | Falmouth University | 36% | 11,195 | 6,000 [c] | 54% | 13.8% | 29.8% |
| University of Exeter |
| Canterbury | University of Kent | 33% | 55,090 | 18,585 [d] | 79% | 19.4% | 34.7% |
| Canterbury Christ Church University | 16,355 |
| University for the Creative Arts | 8,420 [e] |
| Durham | Durham University | 32% | 50,510 | 20,645 | 41% | 21.1% | 35.2% |
| Egham, Surrey | Royal Holloway, University of London | 28% | 28,000 | 12,295 | 44% | 12.1% | 29.9% |
| Loughborough | Loughborough University | 27% | 64,860 | 18,335 | 28% | 17.1% | 28.6% |
| Hatfield, Hertfordshire | University of Hertfordshire | 25% | 41,560 | 30,100 | 72% | 8.3% | 28.0% |
| Bath | University of Bath | 23% | 94,080 | 18,555 | 30% | 14.9% | 22.7% |
| Bath Spa University | 9,235 |
| Oxford | Oxford Brookes University | 22% | 170,805 | 17,810 | 26% | 23.2% | 25.6% |
| University of Oxford | 27,150 |
| Nottingham | Nottingham Trent University | 22% | 299,790 | 38,995 [f] | 25% | 10.7% | 23.9% |
| University of Nottingham | 35,785 |
| Falmouth | Falmouth University) | 21% | 24,070 | 6,170 [g] | 26% | 11.7% | 19.8% |
| Cambridge | Anglia Ruskin University; | 21% | 152,740 | 32,180 [h] | 36% | 21.1% | 24.6% |
| University of Cambridge | 22,155 |
| Guildford | University of Surrey | 20% | 77,880 | 16,565 | 21% | 12.5% | 20.9% |
| Lincoln | University of Lincoln | 20% | 104,555 | 17,565 | 19% | 9.6% | 18.3% |
| Bishop Grosseteste University | 2,465 |
| Exeter | University of Exeter | 20% | 126,175 | 30,250 [i] | 24% | 13.6% | 20.6% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Newcastle University | 20% | 286,445 | 27,775 | 16% | 11.0% | 19.5% |
| Northumbria University Newcastle | 31,860 [j] |
| Lancaster | University of Lancaster | 19% | 52,655 | 17,470 | 51% | 17.9% | 19.6% |
| University of Cumbria | 9,280 [k] |
Wales
Towns and cities with a university and a high proportion of 16 to 24 year olds in 2019: [9]
