However, as was set out in the Jobs & Income dimension, the education and training sectors need to change. Education services must adapt alongside people as they move through life, allowing people and neighbourhoods to adapt to changing circumstances, be those personal, economic or environmental.
We seek to examine the relative level of education to the standards set by Ofsted, the UK’s office for Education, Children's Services and Skills. This exploration did not include vocational education, further and higher education, or education and training services aimed at adults. As such, the study has limitations in its understanding and application.
Birmingham City Council have written a Levelling Up Strategy, in which the target for education has outlined the target to:
“Increase the proportion of children in Birmingham attending good or outstanding schools.” (Birmingham City Council, n.d.)
To align with the selected target for this dimension and recognising that a good quality education is foundational in a young person's ability to thrive, we chose to use the Ofsted rating system. This outlines if a school is ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’, and ‘inadequate’.