The strategy outlined in MK Futures by MK Council is to ‘accelerate social mobility – 'making it easier for those in deprived communities to gain further skills.'

In this 2022 Vital Signs report we look at the extent to which all children are being supported in realising their potential.

In Milton Keynes, 90% of early years education is provided by, nurseries, pre-school, and registered childminders.

Extended hours entitlement of 30 hours is provided to parents or guardians on lower income during school term time, this equates to 22 hours across the whole year.

Of children aged 3-4 years old who accessed the universal entitlement to pre-school education, 46% qualified for the extended access.

MK City Council predicts that there will be sufficient education overall with 11 out of 17 areas projected to have sufficient places to meet the demands of their area.

These areas also have an excess of places that covers the shortfall in the remaining 6 areas.

There has been little improvement in the participation rate in education, training, or work in MK from 2016 - 2021, among 16–17-year-olds, and the rate is lower than Bedford or Luton. [1]

The 2022 academic year saw the return of the summer examinations after they had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, where alternative processes were set up to award grades.

In Milton Keynes 77% of those from disadvantaged homes gained two or more academic A levels, compared with 87% of those who are not disadvantaged in 2021-22.

Those from disadvantaged homes achieved lower average A level grades.

Milton Keynes College plays a role in facilitating social mobility in its provision of vocationally orientated qualifications and its recruitment of those from disadvantaged communities.

50% of the 16–18 year-olds who live in the nine most deprived areas of MK attend Milton Keynes College.

This is likely to benefit their social mobility as those who gain a qualification at Level 3 (i.e. equivalent to A levels or BTEC National Certificate) earn on average an additional £425,000 over the course of their career. (Milton Keynes College)

Milton Keynes College is leading a project together with a consortium of partners, to run the South-Central Institute of Technology (SCIoT) at Bletchley.  

This opened its doors in 2021 and offers higher level technical qualifications, apprenticeships, and short courses in digital subjects to meet local skill needs.

Milton Keynes City Council supports a network of some 90 Supplementary Schools, run by the community that students may attend at low cost in addition to their mainstream school. 

Pupils participate in activities that help preserve their community language and culture.

The schools support cohesion and are valued by parents and students. 

The incidence (rate per 1,000) of children with moderate learning difficulties i.e., Special Educational Needs (SEN) in MK is higher than the average for England and among comparator places.

The rate has fallen to 36.6 per 1,000 children in 2020 from 46.5 in 2015. [2]

Experts believe that recent rises in numbers nationally may represent a ‘catch-up’ following policy changes.

It may reflect greater awareness of SEN amongst educators, or changes in assessment and diagnostic tools.[3]

Prevalence of Special Educational Needs nationally is greater among boys than girls and among those eligible for free school meals. [4]

MK is underperforming in the percentage of the cohort who go onto high tariff universities and the percentage who are on free school meals going to any university.

For the year 2020-2021, 8% of the total Milton Keynes cohort progressed to a high tariff university, compared to 11% for England.  

In MK 27% of those on free school meals progressed to any university compared with 45.8% of the total cohort. [5]

Those from more disadvantaged background are more likely to not go to university for financial reasons. The lack of role models among family and friends may contribute to this trend. [6]

Despite the size and growth of MK, it has been a challenge to establish a face-to-face undergraduate university in the city.

Plans for the original building design of an undergraduate university campus, MK:U, which was due to launch in 2023 have been delayed due to lack of government funding. They have been able to open an Innovation Hub. 

The University is being spearheaded by the postgraduate Cranfield University, and planned to have a curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

MK:U has begun taking students on degree apprenticeships, but the qualifications come from Cranfield.

University of Bedfordshire has a small campus in MK offering six undergraduate degrees.