Are Londoners more intelligent?

[tothinkofsomething]

My Dad made a big thing when we moved out of London ( Zone 6 type expensive green Commuter belt area). We moved into North Hampshire. He basically was saying that outside the magical barrier of the M25 that the level of education is a lot lower. My Dc are just at the start of their school journeys and I have nothing to compare to. But his thoughts were that if my DC was top of their class in Hampshire that would be lower than in London. I'm guessing this depends on area of London? Also our estate agent said we shouldn't move out as we would struggle to get back in.

I do think there is something about general level of education and aspiration and different areas. There is obviously huge inequality in London but I imagine an over-representation of clever people given the job market. That will then spill into commuter towns. Clever parents then tend to have clever children. It’s about opportunity really and family circumstances.

Personally I’d question the intelligence of anyone who wanted to live in London (joking)

Hey you northerners, us Scots would love a whippet and a book with soft pages. Up here we're still banging 2 rocks together and enjoying the sparks

Op surely you didnt mean to use 'intelligence' in your title. If you are asking about regional school performance variations and why, this might have been a more useful thread

The cleverest people I meet are rural based. A lot of them either very well educated or very well read, or both. Many urban based people are selective in their reading I find and follow trends to confirm their viewpoints rather than reading widely. Oh, and people who run their own successful businesses I find more intelligent than some other lawyers I work alongside.

That said, I've lived just outside a couple of provincial towns/cities, and a lot of people there were bloody thick, in terms of having almost no ambition or motivation. I had to stop using a particular beauty therapist because I just couldn't stand the constant, banal chat she kept up during the treatment. If she had actually talked about something interesting, it would have been OK. London does attract clever, motivated people due to the well paid jobs on offer.

I worked in the city briefly, Farringdon.surrounded by privately educated buffoons, how they achieved their degrees I have no idea. (except maybe money). I met with far more intelligence while being served lunch.

I don't know why you're all being so rude to the op when she asked valid question. The ONS do publish stats on this biannually and their research is extensive. I've copy and pasted the relevant result below.

76% of people living outside London are thick as mince

Well clearly the rest of the Country are thick as two short planks and do not match up to OPs superior twattishness
Offensive goady thread titles do not come from intelligent people.

It's hardly surprising when London sucks in the better educated because that's where nearly all the good jobs are based. University graduates from all over the UK end up in London because there are few, if any, graduate level jobs in their home/university towns.

Is there statistics on this ?

Love irony.

Oh FFS. The fact that you’ve asked this question probably gives you your answer 😂😂

I'm from the Midlands. We always get forgotten about in these arguments, we just mind our own business. I'd say that makes us the smartest.

lol.

They chose to live in London so I'd say no.

You do know that even if your father were right about level of education (and that's quite an 'if'), that isn't the same as intelligence, right?

Yes. All of them.

Being thick and having no ambition/motivation are too very different things. For example my brother (Oxford educated and one of the brightest people I know) has no job and no motivation or desire to find one, or do anything for that matter.

Love your attitude, Waxon,

Thank you mumsnetters, I have enjoyed this thread muchly

Argh!
Well firstly education levels / achievement are different to intelligence.
And then there’s quality of education.

So you could have a class full of mediocre kids from an excellent school get As and a class of talented kids from a crap school get Bs. The latter are still more intelligent.

Is the a child’s place in class (which school even does this?!) indicative of their intelligence?- no

Is education better in London than in the rest of the UK? Hahaha - No!

Is the average ability in London higher? - No. you sound privileged. There are some terribly underprivileged areas of London. If you lived in an expensive area, there might have been a skew in your child’s school towards the children of high achieving parents. But that’s just the school demographic, nothing to do with London and same happens in any city - the haves / have-nots become divided.

You sound like pushy snobs, sorry!

@ArthursRoundTable

That's a huge generalisation. Can sort of see what he means. There's just more things going on in London (When its not locked down) and that can mean children are exposed to more things to learn about. In London you have the option of visiting all the museums and cultural events, so kids can just learn a bit more without realising that they're learning. Doesn't mean you can't do that without being in London, but it can be a bit harder.

Saying that, a lot of Londoners take being in London for granted and don't make the best use of the culture on their doorstep. That's not very wise now, is it?!

Quite, because there are absolute no museums or cultural events anywhere else in the country for children to visit and learn from

There's three groups that often get lumped into "intelligent":

Well educated
Educated at a public school or certain private schools
Naturally intelligent.

The three sets can mix; some people will fit in all three and some people fit in none.

It's unlikely on a Venn diagram that 'live in London' would sit completely over any of them.

Me no London. Me read good

Born and grew up in Sheffield, educated in Sheffield (ee, it's grim up North), did move to London for uni and work though. Got 5 As at A levels and a first class degree so I think my northern education set me up ok.

@catsmother20

Is there statistics on this ?

Love irony.

Quite.

You dad sounds like one of the intellectual elite and a die hard critical thinker...not.