The 15 brainiest cities in the North - as UK's cleverest places to live are revealed

The educational qualifications, academic achievements and professional status of residents in the nation’s 50 most populous cities were analysed to calculate which are home to the smartest people.

Cambridge, perhaps unsurprisingly, topped the list, with an overall score of 74.85 out of 100, though Oxford only placed 13th.

London was second, followed by Brighton, Chelmsford, and Edinburgh, while Sunderland was bottom of the pile.

Only two cities in the north of England made the top 10.

The study, by the AI research assistant tool Anara, looked at data including the percentage of citizens with Level 3+ qualifications, the average A-level points score, and the average KS4 School Attainment 8 score.

It also took into account the percentage of the population employed in scientific and financial professions.

That meant the survey was skewed against cities with a large proportion of residents working in the arts sector, or other areas.

Nor was the study able to take into account street smarts, common sense or other attributes that can tell you as much about someone’s intelligence as academic or professional achievements.

Below are the 15 brainiest cities in the north of England, according to the study, along with their overall score out of 100 and the percentage of citizens with Level 3+ qualifications, equivalent to an A-level.

Brainier citizens don’t necessarily make somewhere a better place to live, of course. Another study has ranked the best places to live in the North East, the North West and Yorkshire.