Well HDI takes a number of measurements and the ones which benefited the UK are Education England recently changed its school leaving age from 16 to 18 . University education as well is still growing which boosts the UK ' s score . In fact in the 2015 report the UK had the joint highest score for Mean years of Schooling at 13 . 1 up from 12 . 3 in 2014 . In Scotland , Wales and NI the school leaving age is still 16 Economy GDP per capita and wages in the UK is growing . Even after Brexit the UK economy is among the fastest growing in the developed world . GDP per capita increased by nearly $ 5000 in one year Inflation and unemployment Inflation is very low at the moment and unemployment in the UK has declined from 8 to 4 . 8 %