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Selection of Opportunity Areas

Selection of Opportunity Areas

The Department for Education (DfE) used a systematic, evidence-based approach to identify the 12 Opportunity Areas, focussing on Local Authority Districts (LADs) rather than larger local authorities to avoid missing pockets of poor performance within broader regions.

Data Sources Used

The selection process combined two established indices:

Social Mobility Index (2016)

Published by the Social Mobility Commission in January 2016, the Social Mobility Index (2016) identified the best and weakest LADs in England for opportunities available to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. It measured outcomes across four life stages:

  • Early Years
  • School
  • Youth
  • Adulthood

Achieving Excellence Areas Index (2016)

Published by the DfE in March 2016, the Achieving Excellence Areas Index (2016) focussed on current school performance combined with capacity for improvement. It included 11 indicators:

  • 5 educational standards measures
  • 6 capacity to improve measures

The Selection Process

  1. Initial Screening: All 324 LADs in England (excluding City of London and Isles of Scilly) were ranked using the Social Mobility Index and divided into six equal groups (sextiles)
  2. Cross-referencing: Areas in the lowest-performing sextile on the Social Mobility Index were then cross-referenced with the Achieving Excellence Areas index
  3. Long-list Creation: This identified 32 LADs that performed poorly on both indices, indicating areas facing the greatest challenges across multiple areas
  4. Final Selection: From these 32 areas, 12 were chosen based on three strategic considerations:
    • Regional Spread: Including districts across the North, Midlands and South of England
    • Area Diversity: Ensuring representation of coastal, urban, and rural contexts
    • Varied Challenges: Selecting across the range of the 32 areas to understand different needs and enable comparison

The 12 Selected Areas

First wave (October 2016):

  • West Somerset
  • Norwich
  • Blackpool
  • North Yorkshire Coast
  • Derby
  • Oldham

Second wave (January 2017)

  • Fenland & East Cambridgeshire
  • Hastings
  • Bradford
  • Stoke-on-Trent
  • Doncaster
  • Ipswich

*The DfE were not suggesting that these were the weakest areas in England for education. They were amongst the areas which faced the greatest challenges across a range of issues.

More information can be in the DfE’s ‘Opportunity Areas Selection Methodology’ report