01Introduction

The Great British Brain Drain investigates migration within the UK, specifically between cities.1 It finds that movers tend to be more skilled than the population overall: degree holders represented 32 per cent of the population but 38 per cent of all the people that moved. The movements of these people vary. Younger degree holders tend to move larger distances with London attracting the largest share of these young graduates. In contrast, older degree holders don’t tend to move as far and tend to remain within a commutable distance of the city they leave.

This briefing is a complementary piece of analysis to the main report, in which we look in detail at the nature of migration and graduate mobility into and out of Crawley. Firstly, it looks at overall migration patterns to and from Crawley, using resident-based data. Secondly, it looks specifically at the movements of students and new graduates to and from the city. Finally it looks at the new graduate labour market in the city. These two last sections use workplace based data.

Centre for Cities uses the Primary Urban Area (PUA) definition of cities. For Crawley this comprises of Crawley Local Authority. For more information visit: centreforcities.org/puas/.

Footnotes

  • 1 Swinney P and Williams M (2016), The Great British Brain Drain: where graduates move and why, London: Centre for Cities