Plymouth is an ambitious city with huge growth potential.
With a growing population approaching 272,000, a real economic output of £6.97 billion and a workforce of 118,000, Plymouth is the most significant urban area on the South West peninsula. A further 100,000 people live within the city’s travel-to-work area.
Home to the largest naval base in Western Europe, servicing the UK’s Continuous at Sea Nuclear Deterrent (CASD) – and with the National Centre for Marine Autonomy and a rapidly expanding industrial base supporting this – the marine and defence sector accounts for 20% of the city’s GVA, 18.1% of total employment and over 19,000 jobs.
With the Team Plymouth initiative, the £4.4b being invested in the Dockyard and a £50m national Defence Growth Deal, this sector – and the requirement for skills and talent – is projected to grow significantly over the next ten years.
With the College designated a Defence Technical Excellence College this is a particular focus in the coming year.
The city also hosts a range of other significant industries with substantial skills needs, including health, advanced manufacturing, where Plymouth has the highest concentration of manufacturing employment on the south coast of Britain. Over 14.6% of jobs in the city are in manufacturing, significantly higher than the national average of 8.3%.
The construction sector similarly presents major demand, with a strong pipeline of around 10,000 jobs and significant skills requirements driven by multi-billion-pound developments at HMNB Devonport Dockyard and Derriford Hospital, alongside a commitment to deliver over 10,000 new homes across the city.
The city is also home to a significant volume of health and social care employment, representing the largest workforce concentration across any sector. This includes substantial employment within the NHS, Livewell Southwest, and a wide-ranging care sector spanning both private providers and the third sector
However, alongside these opportunities Plymouth also has a number of challenges which focus and frame College activities. The city has 17 areas in the 2025 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD25) sitting within the 10% most deprived nationally with the St Peter and the Waterfront ward in the 1% most deprived nationally. Employment, education, and health and disability disadvantage metrics are of significant concern.
Aligned to this, the city has 46,000 economically inactive residents (24.4%), which is higher than the national rate of 21%. It also has 14,000 workless households (16% compared with the national average of 13.9%) and a higher proportion of part-time to full-time employment (35% and 65% respectively, compared with 31% and 69% nationally). As a result, the average annual wage of £33.4k is also £5.5k lower than the national average of £38.9k.
Educational attainment is also a concern. In Plymouth, 19.1% of residents are qualified to level 1 as their highest level of attainment, compared with 15.8% nationally. At higher levels, only 37.5% of residents hold a higher education qualification, which is 8.7% below the national average of 46.2%.
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