Best and worst UK cities for wheelchair access revealed

Best and worst UK cities for wheelchair access revealed.

Study reveals the UK’s most wheelchair-accessible cities – Oxford takes the lead.

Oxford ranks highest for wheelchair accessibility with a score of 90.54 out of 100.
Poole is identified as the least accessible city, scoring just 13.33.
The study examined accessibility factors across 81 UK cities, highlighting disparities in facilities for wheelchair users.
There are many beautiful and historic places to live in the UK, but for people in wheelchairs, another crucial factor to consider when choosing where to live is accessibility.

According to a new study, Oxford, York, and Blackpool are the UK’s most wheelchair-accessible cities, with other great locations also ranking highly, such as Brighton, Edinburgh, and Cambridge.

The research, carried out by experts at leading stairlift company Halton Stairlifts, analysed five key factors across 81 major UK cities to assess their level of wheelchair accessibility. These factors included the availability of wheelchair-accessible restaurants, tours and outdoor activities, accommodation, disabled parking areas, and public toilets per 100,000 residents.

A weighting was then assigned to each factor, reflecting its importance within the analysis, and used to calculate an overall index score out of 100 for each entry, upon which the final ranking is based.

According to the findings, Oxford is the most wheelchair-accessible city in the UK, with a score of 90.54. The city offers 163 wheelchair-friendly restaurants and 115 accessible attractions, combined with 37 disabled parking areas and 37 accessible public toilets. Oxford is by far the most inclusive city in the ranking, with a score 43.1% higher than the runner-up.

With a score of 63.27, York secures second place. While the city has a great number of wheelchair-accessible restaurants and activities, 243 and 46, respectively, its score drops because there aren’t many parking and toilet options with disability access—only eight parking areas with disability parking and 10 accessible public toilets.

Blackpool comes third, with a score of 61.71. The city ranks above the average of 5 in all but one factor—toilets with disability access (there are only six public facilities with disability access)—though the number of tours and outdoor activities only scored 5.26 (there are 19 wheelchair-accessible activities available), highlighting the areas where the city can improve.

Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, scores 60.33. The city ranked particularly highly in factors such as parking areas and toilets with disability access—275 and 75 wheelchair-accessible parking and toilets, respectively—but its ranking dropped due to the scarcity of wheelchair-accessible units in hotels (only 18).

Brighton and Hove comes in fifth, with a score of 58.64. The city has the same issue as Glasgow—though there are many areas with disability parking and toilets (215 and 29, respectively), the city falls short when it comes to wheelchair-accessible units in hotels—just 10.

Scoring 58.57, Reading is the UK’s sixth-most wheelchair-accessible city. While it has a good overall score, the city placed sixth due to scarcity of accessible restaurants and hotel units—155 and 7, respectively. While the number of restaurants is close to Oxford’s, Reading has more than 50,000 inhabitants than Reading, which means the proportion of accessible restaurants is actually lower.

Despite its hilly terrain, Edinburgh scores 58.10, reflecting efforts to improve accessibility in key areas. The city received an above-average score for all but one factor—toilets with disability access (there are only 19). Though above the average, the number of hotel units entirely accessible received a 5.11 score—only 34 units.

With a score of 55.46, Cambridge’s historic colleges and museums have made strides in accessibility, with the city receiving a 7.07 score for the tours and outdoor activities factor—there are 45 wheelchair-accessible activities available. However, the city still has room for improvement in parking areas and toilets with disability access—15 and 7, respectively.

Telford comes in ninth, scoring 54.26. The city received a perfect score for parking areas with disability accessibility, but ranks very low in the number of accessible restaurants and hotel units, 86 and five, respectively.

Ranking tenth with a score of 54.25, Bournemouth has only two above-average scores—parking and toilets with disability access, with 56 and 20 wheelchair-accessible parking areas and toilets, respectively. The city ranks particularly low in the number of tour and outdoor activities (with only eight accessible activities, its score is 2.88), showing this is an area the city can focus on improving.

On the other hand, Poole is the least wheelchair-accessible city in the UK, followed by Derry, with scores of 13.33 and 16.97, respectively. Both present significant obstacles for wheelchair users, with a concerningly low number of accessible parking areas and toilets—they have none.

Next is Bolton, scoring 20.40 and showing a lack of accessible hotel units and activities. Kingston upon Hull ranks as the fourth least wheelchair-accessible city, with almost no accessible hotel units—only six listings.

Other cities in the ranking are Blackburn (22.28), Mansfield (24.26), Northampton (24.54), Luton (26.54), Coventry (26.71), and Huddersfield (26.74), with scores below the average for all the analysed factors.

Neil McKenzie, Director at Halton Stairlifts, commented on the findings, “Our research highlights how UK cities are handling accessibility, showing the varying levels of preparedness across different factors, from restaurants and activities to hotels, parking and toilets.

“While it’s encouraging to see places like Oxford, which has a stellar ranking, leading the way, there’s a clear indication that many cities need to prioritise improvements in accessibility. Even among the better prepared, their overall ranking was astoundingly close to the average, showing they also must put in the work to actually be inclusive. Every individual should have equal access to public spaces and services, and it’s important that we continue to make efforts towards that goal.”