Cities not science

Study suggests the strategies of conurbations promote innovation, writes Alison Goddard.

Successful cities have reinvented their economies, creating knowledge-focused industries to compensate for job losses in more traditional areas, according to a study published by the Centre for Cities, a think tank. The Financial Times reports that the strategy is why the south has pulled away from the north over the past century. It identifies the winners, not all of which have universities: Crawley, Peterborough, Swindon and Worthing feature prominently, alongside Oxford and Cambridge. Meanwhile the losers include many university towns: Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull and Liverpool. This matters because university leaders have been asked to develop arguments for the government to invest in higher education, to inform the spending review that will take place after the general election in May. The current minister for universities is far more interested in cities and tolerates his role because the two frequently coincide. Exactly how investment in science promotes economic growth has yet to be articulated. Any studies that indicate that city strategies drive economic growth risks diverting scarce funds away from higher education.

Apprenticeships are expanding but Alison Wolf of King’s College London has warned that some may be of low quality. The Financial Times reports her comments that the vast numbers of students would rather have a first-rate apprenticeship than attend a second-rate university but that, at the other end of the spectrum, some supermarket stackers are being rebranded as apprentices.