One Coventry Plan Annual Performance Report (April 2024 to March 2025)

The life expectancy at birth of the average person in Coventry is 77.4 years for males and 81.7 years for females. Following a year-on-year decrease for both males and females since 2017 to 2019, this most recent figure represents an improvement which is in line with both West Midlands and England measures.

Whilst improved, the overall life expectancy for the city masks significant inequalities. The gap between the local area (MSOA) with the highest life expectancy and the area (MSOA) with the lowest life expectancy is 14.9 years for males and 8.5 for females (2016 to 2020 data).

For males, the area with the highest life expectancy is Finham Park (86.2) and the area with lowest is Willenhall (71.3). For females, the area with the highest life expectancy is Stivichall & Finham (86.6) and the area with lowest is Naul's Mill & Bishopsgate Green (78.1).

Life expectancy at various points along the number 7 bus route illustrates the health inequalities that exist in the city.

Life expectancy along Coventry bus route number 7

The life expectancy at birth of the average person in Coventry is 77.4 years for males and 81.7 years for females (2021 to 2023). However, this masks significant health inequalities across the city.

Coventry bus route number 7 runs between Brownshill Green in the north-west and Bell Green in the north-east of the city. It crosses some of the city's most affluent areas, as well as some of the most deprived areas.

The graphic below sets out the bus route (in black) across the city; and the base map sets out the neighbourhoods (known as MSOAs) of Coventry. The colours represent the average life expectancy at birth of residents in each of Coventry's neighbourhood areas (MSOA) in 2016 to 2020.

On the lower part of the graphic, the height of each bus stop represents the average life expectancy at birth of residents in each area in 2016 to 2020. Life expectancy serves as useful summary measure of mortality, as it quantifies the differences between areas in the years of life lived; and, therefore, illustrates the stark health inequalities across the city.

Healthy life expectancy

Healthy life expectancy is a measure of the average number of years a person would expect to live in good health based on contemporary mortality rates and prevalence of self-reported good health, an estimation.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently published updated Healthy Life expectancy data for local areas of Great Britain. The most current data is for combined years 2021 to 2023.

In contrast to life expectancy, healthy life expectancy at birth continues to fall in Coventry, this is in line with measures from West Midlands and England.

This means that the number of residents living in good health has been falling since 2018 and continues to fall, resulting in increased demand for health and care services.

Good development at age 5

By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (5 years old), a child is defined as reaching a 'good level of development' if they have attained the expected learning outcomes in a number of key areas of learning.

Following a 3 year improvement trend, there has been a small decrease in performance in Coventry in 2024. 63.3% of all the city’s 5-year-olds achieved a good level of development at age 5 in 2024, down from 63.9% in 2023.

Case study – Early Years workforce development

Speech, Language and Communication is a crucial area of development within a child's early years, shaping their ability to learn, integrate and interact with the world.

However, some children experience delays in developing communication skills, which limit their progress and hinder social skills and learning. Coventry Speech and Language Team and the Early Years Advisory Team have implemented a series of 3 training courses to improve practitioner knowledge and skills.

This supports earlier identification of speech, language and communication difficulties and ensures timely intervention. In the first 9 months of this programme, 165 early years providers have accessed the first level of the training, amounting to 55% of all early years providers in the city, with 72 (24% of all providers) going onto complete tier 2, which was launched in November 2024.

Overweight and obese children

Coventry has seen a small increase in the proportion of children being overweight or obese in both reception and Year 6 pupils.

In 2023 to 2024, 22.2% of reception year children were measured as being overweight or obese, up from 20.7% the year before and 40.8% of year 6 children were measured as being overweight or obese, up slightly from 40.5% the year before. Rates remain higher than the regional and national average.

Coventry continues to take part in a national research study evaluating the impact of providing additional resources for parents as part of the National Childhood Measurement Programme. Overall response to the project has been positive.