Bath has emerged as one of the UK’s skills hotspots in new research, ranking just behind the academic powerhouses of Oxford and Cambridge and above London.
Nearly 60% of the city’s workforce is classified as highly skilled, ranking it fourth in a national table compiled from Office for National Statistics data. 
The total number of highly skilled workers – those in roles such as accountants, lawyers, doctors, nurses and teachers – in the city is 27,800. Only Oxford, Cambridge and Brighton perform better, according to the figures from NatWest’s Regional Economic Tracker.
The report also shows that the South West as a whole is outperforming almost other UK regions in attracting and developing highly skilled workers,
Since 2008 there has been a 14.5% rise in the number of highly skilled workers in the region – second only to London and equal to the East Midlands out of the 11 British countries/regions in the survey.
The growth has been fuelled by Bath, Bristol and Cheltenham, according to the survey, with all three having a much stronger concentration of highly skilled workers than the UK average.
The report says there are are also signs of growth in the number medium-skilled jobs in the South West such as care workers, bookkeepers, teaching assistants, electricians, plumbers and builders.
Last year there was a 4.8% growth in this sector in the South West – the second highest of all the regions.
However, the number of low-skilled workers such as retail assistants, cleaners, lorry drivers, waiting staff, taxi drivers and call centre staff in the South West has fallen faster than most other UK regions since 2008.
