Can ‘written-off' white, working-class pupils get back on track?
Speaking before A-level results day on Thursday, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, called it a 'national disgrace' that so many white working-class pupils were 'written off' and fail to get the grades needed for university.
With GCSE results landing a week later on August 21, education experts are renewing urgent calls to tackle inequalities within this demographic.
James Toop, the chief executive of Teach First, said that while thousands of students would celebrate this month, too many would 'face closed doors' not because of a lack of ability but because of 'entrenched inequality'.
The 1.2 million white British pupils who are eligible for free school meals make up the largest low-performing ethnic group in the country. They represent nearly 60 per cent of all eligible pupils and also have among the worst results at GCSE.
Only 18.6 per cent of white British pupils who are eligible for free school meals achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs last year, compared with a national average of 45.9 per cent.
According to Department for Education (DfE) figures, on average, they scored about a grade and a half lower in each subject than their peers.
Attendance plays a crucial role in understanding why some pupils fall behind. National figures for the autumn term of last year showed that although overall and persistent absence fell compared with the previous year, the number of severely absent pupils — those missing more than half of school — had risen.
While rates of persistent absence among white British pupils are only slightly above the national average and lower than some other ethnic groups, the Difference, a whole-school inclusion charity, highlights that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, regardless of ethnicity, are far more likely to miss school and suffer from lost learning.
Among white working-class pupils, this intersection of deprivation and absence is particularly pronounced — not because of their ethnic background, but because they are disproportionately represented among the country's poorest.
Kiran Gill, the charity's chief executive said: 'The data is clear: the experiences of not having a safe and stable home, not having food in your stomach and not feeling sure that your family are well and safe are real causal factors of children losing learning.'
Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted between 2012 and 2016, said that the regulator was to blame for the growing attainment gap between white working-class students and their peers. Wilshaw highlighted that Ofsted's role was to report to parliament on national standards, including the achievement levels of particular groups of students.
'It hasn't been reporting as regularly or rigorously as it should,' he said.
Wilshaw said schools had achieved good ratings despite attainment levels being below average and 'poor white students performing particularly badly'. He believes Ofsted needs to act and set up a new framework for inspecting academies as 'nothing is wrong with the children in these schools'.
Ofsted declined to comment.
The low attainment of the white working classes is an issue that has been 'bubbling up for the last 20 years', according to Wilshaw. However, a tipping point has been reached and Wilshaw claims there is a correlation between the poor quality of education received and the social unrest seen in anti-immigration protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers.
'They feel dispossessed, they feel alienated because they are at the bottom of the pile,' Wilshaw said. 'Their kids don't do well in school, they don't go to university and they don't get well-paid jobs. No wonder they turn up in droves to protest against these communities.'
Robert Halfon, former chair of the House of Commons education select committee, commissioned a report five years ago on white working-class pupils' underperformance, calling it a longstanding and controversial issue.
'We got called racist, or it was said that we were forgetting about ethnic groups and they had a whole heap of abuse charged on me in certain quarters,' he said.
'There is also this awful assumption of white privilege, which alienates the very parents and families and communities who are, of course, white working class, struggling and trying to get their homes on with no money.'
Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust, said the pandemic and the cost of living crisis had contributed to the attainment gap widening even further.
'The attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is nothing less than a ticking time bomb for equality of opportunity in our country and needs urgent attention,' Cullinane said. 'If the government genuinely wants to break down barriers to opportunity, we need serious investment in education opportunities in the 'left-behind' parts of the UK.'
The DfE figures found that white-working class students receiving free school meals in the year 2023/24 were the least likely to progress to higher education compared with their peers — 23.4 per cent of female students and 14.9 per cent of male students continued with the next stage of their education. This compares with 62.6 per cent of female Asian students and 46.5 per cent of male Asian students receiving free school meals and still continuing to university.
The rates of attainment and progression of white working-class pupils has drawn renewed political scrutiny from the government, which is due to publish reforms set out in a white paper in the autumn.
It is understood that ministers will publish data showing soaring school suspension and exclusion levels among white working-class pupils.
The government is also considering expanding its AI-powered attendance tool, launched earlier this year, allowing schools to benchmark how they fare against those with similar demographic make-ups. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to expand early intervention services through the inclusion of family hubs in every local authority.
Jo Saxton, chief executive of Ucas, has called on the government to provide more bursaries and maintenance support for young people.
Halfon added there needs to be a radical overhaul of the careers guidance system, as he said that it is wrong that schools are 'judged by how many kids they send to Russell Group universities'.
'Careers guidance is still a problem, because most of it is about going to university, when it should be about encouraging people to do vocational apprenticeships.'
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