Education is viewed as a leveller of inequalities and key to socio-economic development. Yet, education is riven with inequalities that perpetuate broader socio-economic inequalities. Available research focuses on non-spatial markers of inequality (e.g. gender, minority status). Our study explores how participation in schooling and adult education differs between neighbourhoods of different socio-economic status. Using examples from the SHLC Household Survey in Africa and Asia, and city-level reports with secondary data, we show that the general advantage of urban education masks different levels of access, participation, and quality between neighbourhoods. While our findings show a predictable trend of educational advantage in wealthier neighbourhoods, there are outliers, including poorer neighbourhoods with high levels of parental satisfaction with schooling and high levels of participation in adult education.