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.

In 2008 and 2012 some of them were not- they voted in Boris Johnson and so in a way are partly responsible for the needless deaths of thousands of people this year. Had Mr Johnson failed to become London Mayor, he would not have become Tory leader.

Get down here to Cornwall if you want to see true intelligence- my daughter's taking 2 GCSE'S- Pasty Making and Surfing. She's hoping for a place at Oxford to study being "ansome"

I would have to say, that judging by the current government, who seem thick as mince, the answer to your question is no.

I live in the north, l have a degree as does Dh. Ds has 2 MA’s, and Dss has a PhD.

But yeah we’re all thick up north.

I’d rather be anywhere than London tbh.

Not quite the same but as 80s school kids me and dh (separately) both moved from the south east to the midlands and there was a noticeable negative difference in schools. This was pre ofsted as it is now and things were generally less consistent across schools so I'm sure it's not the same now though but your dad may be remembering the not to distant past.

Now OP you need to clarify, are you talking London proper, or London and home counties?

The most frighteningly intelligent person I know (she's a genuine rocket scientist) is from Kent. Even with my Kent-level geography I realise this isn't london, but parts are still within the M25, so could count?

This throws a spanner into your dads argument, I fear his boundaries are slightly askew

FFS. Do behave 🙄🙄🙄

@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?!

I don't even know where to begin with your first paragraph.

@FrangipaniBlue ... and no way that folks from the provinces would be able to travel to London to partake of the cultural treasures therein.

[quote Porcupineinwaiting]@FrangipaniBlue ... and no way that folks from the provinces would be able to travel to London to partake of the cultural treasures therein.[/quote]
Yes because up here in Cumbria we don't even have the intelligence to work out how to get out and past the mountains.......

There's also that intellectual in the Antipodes, Germaine Greer. Born in that backwater of Melbourne.

Hahahaha this has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.

No, but there must be a “brain drain” towards London as so many large organisations and companies are based so graduates move there.

This is actually a myth. A relatively small number of graduates move to London once they've graduated - less than 20%.

I moved to London from the North to go to school, and was top of the class in everything, immediately.

In English, all these Londoners could only say the alphabet up to the letter P. But I could say it up to the letter T. I looked smugly up at the teacher and said "It's because I'm from up north, miss, isn't it?"

And she said "Yes, BadLad. It's because you're from the North."

Then in maths all these southerners only knew up to the four-times-table. But me, I knew the six-times-table.

I looked smugly up at the teacher and said "It's because I'm from up north, miss, isn't it?"

And she said "Yes, BadLad. It's because you're from the North."

Then in PE, in the changing room, I noticed my willy was at least a centimetre bigger than every other kid in the class. I looked smugly up at the teacher and said "It's because I'm from up north, miss, isn't it?"

And she said "No, dear. It's because all these London kids are only three, and you're seventeen".

@lovelemoncurd

Your dad is a

What kind of biscuit? Is there one that's particularly associated with being bonkers, I'm sure some clever posters can come up with one

‘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.’

😂😂😂😂😂

None of these things exist outside London obviously. And t’north has amazing countryside which London doesn’t have.

But it does raise the issue about Londoncentric issues. These things should be spread everywhere not just London. Who really even cares about London apart from those people who live there?

Isn’t Boris meant to be levelling up? Perhaps he could move lots of cultural things out of London so us thick northerners can visit.

You do realise that some of the top universities are actually in Scotland which is waaaay outside of London.

Muppet 😂😂 . I'm a Londoner and full on stupid if I'm honest!!

Well I grew up in the Home Counties then moved to London so obviously my IQ increased by several points.
However, as we now live in Cornwall I'm guessing it's in negative numbers 🤦‍♀️🤯

Or, you know, intelligence is not related to where we grow up and live.

What a ridiculous question

This thread is hilarious, thank you OP. 😂

However, you and your dad appear to have proved your hypothesis wrong.

For the avoidance of doubt here's a list of top unis most of which are not in London

www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/russell-group

@tothinkofsomething "Is there statistics on this?"

Yes, there is [sic]. If you want a direct county by county breakdown of exam results to prove intelligence in specific subjects, Ofqual have done that for you, just here.

Here is a breakdown of the GCSE top scoring counties by subject, for those who just want the top line:

Maths - Buckinghamshire
English Language - Oxfordshire
Music - Cambridgeshire
Geography - West Berkshire and Oxfordshire
History - Rutland
Biology/Chemistry/Physics - all London
Art - Rutland
Economics - Devon and Oxfordshire
Religious Studies - Rutland and Hertfordshire
French - Buckinghamshire

London not looking too shiny there, is it! Good for scientists, but if you want a broad range of subjects other counties appear to be at least as good, if not better, if pure exam results is used to demonstrate intelligence.

Foreign languages were interesting - if you look at languages such as Arabic, Urdu, Chinese, Polish, it becomes clear that diversity isn't limited just to London. There are either a lot of people who speak these languages natively across the country, or a some really good teachers outside of the capital.

I've managed to bite my tongue and keep my thoughts on the OP and their intentions on starting this thread to myself, but top marks to some of the amusing replies here - they've brightened my morning!

And @mumduty - yes, thank f you've moved back to London! Goodness knows the rest of the country doesn't want your sort hanging about with your superiority complex! You know someone who worked on Game of Thrones! Wowee! So do I! I know several. (I bet they aren't the same people though. I know horse wranglers and stunt people.) But what the fuck does knowing someone who worked on GoTs have to do with the price of fish?

I’m in Yorkshire, we’re thick as fuck up here.

Never mind that I live in a household with multiple undergrad degrees, several postgrad and shock horror a doctorate. Our level of intelligence is lower than someone who went to primary school in London.

I used to teach in a school in East End of London.

I can categorically say that the kids there were not any cleverer than the kids I have taught out of London.
And as for museums art galleries etc, most of them didn't go there or access them at all, except on school trips.

I do think that sometimes people living in urban areas can seem 'sharper' in the speech and wit, sort of street wise. But that is just a veneer, and doesn't reflect actual intelligence.

We live outside of London. We're all thick obviously.

No Cambridge has the most intelligent people but we keep it quiet

I mean, I've got three degrees including a PhD but as I live in Wales I'm probably thicker than everyone in England.

If you want statistics to support your idiocy I'm sure you'll find them, OP. You can find numbers to support any old bollocks if you look hard enough for them.

So is it just people born in London or people who move there? DS (Londonder) is definitely smarter than me... but my dad (Glaswegian) was a brainiac...

My brain hurty hurt...