Rotherham low on list of brainiest areas - but still beats some cities

But the borough still beats Barnsley in the new listing put together by software provider Unit4, although it is pipped by Doncaster and Sheffield.

The study claims to look at how learning really works and examined 60 areas across England to gain a score on how educated residents are, how good local schools are, how easy it is to access learning, and how strong the culture of public knowledge is.

The research looked at topics such as percentage of the population with degrees, how many have GCSEs in English and Maths, access to libraries and public lectures, and the percentage of schools classified as outstanding.

Top of the tree were Cambridge, Slough and Oxford and bottom of the list were Blackpool, Kingston upon Hull and Stoke-on-Trent.

The study found that 18.71 per cent of Rotherham’s population had degrees compared to 56 per cent for Cambridge, 27.45 per cent for Sheffield and 19.11 per cent for Barnsley, but it was more than Doncaster’s 18.44 per cent.

71.6 per cent of Rotherham people had English and Maths GCSEs and 6.6 per cent of schools were rated outstanding at their last inspection, easily beating Doncaster, Sheffield and Barnsley – and even Oxford and Birmingham – but had less access to public libraries than the other South Yorkshire areas.

Overall, Rotherham gained a score of 27.49 in the study putting it ahead of Bradford but behind places like York, Bath, Bury and Bristol.

A spokesperson for Unit4 said: “Britain loves to brag about being clever. We obsess over league tables, Ofsted ratings, Russell Group universities and whether the local library still does children’s storytelling on Saturdays.

Some places genuinely do seem to produce sharper minds, stronger schools and more chances to learn at any age. But have you ever wondered which cities in England are actually the brainiest?

“Rather than ranking places purely on who has the fanciest university, researchers examined 60 major areas across England and scored them on how educated residents are, how good local schools are, how easy it is to access learning, and how strong the culture of public knowledge is. In other words, not just ‘who’s got the degrees’, but ‘who’s actually investing in brains’.

“Cambridge tops the rankings as England’s most educated area with a total score of 83.39, driven by exceptional performance across education and access to learning.

More than half of residents hold a university degree or higher, the highest share in the country, while 83.9 per cent of pupils achieve GCSEs in English and Maths, placing Cambridge among the very top nationally.

The city also leads the UK for library access and ranks highly for public lectures and academic events, reinforcing a culture where learning extends well beyond classrooms.”