About Medway

“The majority of wards in Medway fair worst for ‘education, training & skills’.”

www.medway.gov.uk

 

Medway is an area of contrast with areas of deprivation and affluence. There are five areas in the 10 per cent most deprived areas nationally. In contrast six are in the least deprived 10 per cent of wards nationally.

There is a six year gap for men in life expectancy between the most deprived and least deprived areas.

The largest ethnic group is White British which makes up 90% of the population. The second largest ethnic group is Asian or Asian British accounting for 3.5% of the population. This is higher than the regional average but below the national average.

Almost half the jobs in Medway are within the retail and public sectors and generally offer low paid employment. As a result the average wage in Medway is 10% below the national average.

2011 Census

Medway’s population is ageing; with a decrease in the number of people aged 0 to 18 and an increase in those aged 19-65 and 65+.

River ward—had the highest percentage population increase, +39.3%

Gillingham North ward—had the highest population, 17854 people

Rainham South ward—had the highest population decrease, -5.7%

Cuxton and Halling ward— had the smallest population, 5448 people

The median annual household income in Medway was £31,400, this is above the national level, at approximately £29,000, but is below the median income in the South East at £33,900.

Within Medway there is significant variation in incomes between wards, from £24,800 in Chatham Central up to £44,800 in Hempstead & Wigmore.

Cuxton and Halling and Peninsula wards are the least ethnically diverse with 3.5% and 3.2%, respectively, of the ward’s residents coming from BME groups. In both wards nearly 95% of the residents were White British.

The central and urban wards are most ethnically diverse; Chatham Central has the highest BME population, 20.1% of the ward’s population. The ward also had the highest proportion of Other White residents 9.6%

Three wards have approximately half of all those who either cannot speak English well or cannot speak English:- Chatham Central, Luton and Wayfield and Gillingham South. Whilst the numbers are smaller River ward also has a significantly higher proportion of it’s population who cannot speak English well or cannot speak English.

Medway is ranked 2 of 348 local authorities in England and Wales for the number of resident’s who’s highest qualification is at Level 2 (GCSE or equivilant)

Update: Following a 2013 OFSTED inspections of Medway’s schools.

“Ofsted’s latest data from the 30 April 2013, found that almost 8,000 children are attending a primary school that, at its last inspection, was judged to be less than good. That’s 29 primary schools not providing the expected level of education to young children. This is much worse than the quality of primary schools across England and is an unacceptable situation.”

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