BARROW has a 27 per cent net loss of university-educated graduates, new figures reveal. 

The Office for National Statistics produced a data report revealing that 40 per cent of graduates do not return to Barrow.

Unsurprisingly given the dominance of BAE and other technical professions in Barrow, a large number of non-graduates with an advanced qualification who grew up in the town stay, and those from elsewhere settle, with only one per cent overall net loss. 

The data is based on census figures. There were 2,480 state-school pupils from Barrow who sat their GCSEs between the 2007-8 and 2010-11 school years.  Of these, 535 (22 per cent) gained degree-level qualifications. Another 955 (39 per cent) gained advanced post-16 qualifications, such as an apprenticeship. The town produced a below median (30 per cent) number of graduates but an above median (32 per cent) number of qualified non-graduates.

The number of graduates moving to Barrow from elsewhere equalled only three per of the town's GCSE cohort. 

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Of Barrow's graduates, 200 were living elsewhere in 2018/19. 30 of these graduates moved out of the town but remained in Barrow's travel to work area.

175 qualified non-graduates moved out of Barrow but 95 (54 per cent) remained in the travel to work area. 

The office's report even outlines where graduates who completely left Furness moved to. 105 graduates left the north west, and the most common region they moved to was Yorkshire and The Humber. 40 qualified (level 3+) non-graduates left the north west. 

The MP for Barrow and Furness Simon Fell said: "Barrow has been in a unique position for a while where we have low rates of university applications but a far higher than average number of people going into apprenticeships. 

"This is, by and large, a welcome trend as it means people are earning while they're learning the skills of a trade."

Mr Fell said opportunities for apprentices in the area extended beyond the shipyard. There is also the two new wind farms, carbon capture at Spirit Energy and a 'huge number' of supply chain businesses and companies such as Siemens and Oxleys, he said. 

However Mr Fell also said he recognised that this 'was not for everyone' and he wanted people to 'have a proper choice.' He pointed to the £25 million Town Deal's biggest project being the first university campus in Furness which will give students the opportunity to study in Barrow.