ORKNEY, the Shetland Islands and the Western Isles have been named as the three best areas in Scotland in which to bring up children.
Across Great Britain as a whole, the 2015 Bank of Scotland Children’s Quality of Life Survey found that children in Orkney enjoy the best quality of life of any local area district, followed by the Shetland Islands and the Western Isles.
Orkney claimed top spot based on low primary school class size, high school spending per pupil and the fact they live in an area of low population density and little traffic. Children on Orkney are also likely to be surrounded by adults who are in employment and who rate their own personal well-being as very high.
Orkney children enjoy one of the best pupil to teacher ratios in secondary schools while an average school spend of £9,000 per pupil is one of the highest in the survey – almost twice the national average of £4,560.
These factors appear to help high-school children achieve excellent exam results, with 87.1 per cent of Orkney pupils gaining five awards at SCQF 4 or better, compared to the national average of 82.6 per cent.
Orkney has one of the lowest population densities in Britain with just 22 people per square kilometre – compared to the national average of 274 per sq km – and children can walk about in relative freedom with just 139 vehicles per sq km, compared to 9,459 in Britain as a whole
Importantly, the Office of National Statistics’ survey on personal well-being indicates the Orkney adult population is among the happiest, most satisfied, and least anxious in Britain.
On the flipside, there is bad news for kids who like online games, as just 56 per cent of households have fast broadband, significantly below the national average of 86 per cent.
Shetland in second and then the Western Isles follow Orkney to make up the top three best places for children to live in both Scotland and Great Britain
Both of these areas score high on the education factors, human geography and how adults rate their personal well-being.
Shetland performs strongly on the lowest pupil to teacher ratio of 8.6; the highest average school spend per pupil of £10,821 and over nine out 10 secondary school pupils achieve five awards at SCQF 4 or better. The Western Isles has the lowest average primary school class size of 17.4 in Britain, as well as low population density of nine people per sq km and traffic volumes of just 69 vehicles per sq km.
Other areas in Scotland fared well in various categories. Children living in East Dunbartonshire, for example, achieve the second-best exam results in Scotland with 94 per cent of pupils getting five awards at SCQF 4 or better – well above the Scottish average of 83.3 per cent.
Pupils in East Renfrewshire were very close behind at 93.5 per cent. Midlothian has more houses with an internet connection of more than 2Mbps (89 per cent), followed by Stirling (88 per cent) and Clackmannanshire (87 per cent).
Aberdeen has the second highest employment rate at 81.2 per cent, while the adult populations in Falkirk, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Aberdeen City and Argyll & Bute are among the second happiest, most satisfied, and least anxious in Scotland, which experts say bodes well for children there.
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