Opportunity areas
Policy paper
Opportunity areas (OAs) are an important part of the government’s plan for improving social mobility through education. They were described in the policy paper Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential.
From September 2022, the opportunity areas programme will end and the areas will become 12 of the 24 priority education investment areas. The Schools White Paper, Opportunity for all, announced new interventions for these areas which will help our mission to level up and improve educational attainment, with a focus on making the greatest progress in the areas with the most entrenched underperformance.
The 12 opportunity areas are:
West Somerset
Norwich
Blackpool
North Yorkshire coast
Derby
Oldham
Bradford
Doncaster
Fenland and East Cambridgeshire
Hastings
Ipswich
Stoke-on-Trent
Delivery plans
The delivery plans for the 12 opportunity areas outline how we planned to build young people’s knowledge and skills and provide them with the best advice and opportunities.
Selection methodology
The selection methodology explains how we decided which areas would be classified as ‘opportunity areas’.
The selection data spreadsheet presents the data which we originally considered when identifying the areas in greatest need.
Lessons learnt
One of the main objectives of the OA programme was to share learning from the OAs to inform future policy as well as activity in other areas.
Lessons learnt can be found in:
Responses