White working-class pupils behind in all but 21 of UK's 3,400 secondary schools, shocking figures reveal
It means only a tiny fraction of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils doing as well as their peers.
Last night Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that white working-class children were being 'betrayed' and left behind.
In what has been seen as an attempt to take on Nigel Farage 's Reform UK, Ms Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why such children are failing.
She said: 'Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working-class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly.
'Put simply, these children have been betrayed – left behind in society's rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.'
The proportion of white working-class pupils getting grades 5 or above in English and maths GCSE was 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average, according to the data.
But critics said Labour was only paying attention to the issue to counter the threat from Reform.
Tory schools spokesman Neil O'Brien said: 'Everything Bridget Phillipson is doing is disastrous for white working-class kids.
'Her trade union-led Schools Bill is smashing up 30 years of cross-party reforms which have raised standards in England.
'Phillipson has axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist.
'She has axed the behaviour hubs which were doing so much to improve discipline and standards in schools.
'School funding formulas still tend to heavily favour urban areas. While 40 years ago, London was an education disaster zone, today it is the highest-achieving part of the country and the lowest levels of achievement are found in shire and coastal areas.'
At secondary school, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average.
Officials said the drivers of low attainment among white working-class pupils included a lack of parental involvement or aspiration.
According to the research, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds and workless homes have the lowest aspirations of all groups.
But white working-class girls also fell in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years. The inquiry will be led by Sir Hamid Patel, who runs a number of outstanding schools across Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands.
Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins.
It will look at why white working-class children perform worse across measures including behaviour, attendance, mental health, attainment and life chances.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: 'Since the early 2000s, white working-class pupils have fallen behind their peers at every level of education.
'English and maths GCSEs are the bedrock of education and opportunity.
'The Government must develop a strategy to close this attainment gap and ensure this group are no longer marginalised.
'Labour must dispel the ongoing narrative around white privilege, as well as intergenerational disadvantage, geographic inequalities and disengagement from school, if they are serious about improving outcomes.'
Announcing the inquiry, Ms Phillipson said: 'We'll look closely at what's working in the tiny number of schools that the data indicates may have cracked this problem for white working-class children.
'My message to parents is that we will create a school system where every child, in every classroom, has the support they need to achieve, and a fair crack at making a success of their life.'
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BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
The Green Party is at a crossroads. Is it time they get angry?
Warning: This article contains strong languageThe video opens with some white cliffs and a politician standing on a beach. This isn't Dover, and it's not Nigel Farage (although the echoes with Reform UK are deliberate). Rather, it's a campaign video for the Green Party's leadership hopeful, Zack slick filming and a moody orchestral soundtrack, he delivers an animated and uncompromising boats, he declares, are an "obsession that has gripped the country," blamed for a "crumbling" NHS and "obscene" rents, while people are told there's no money left."Well," he says, looking into the camera, "I call bullshit."The real problem, he continues, are the "super-rich and their yachts". The Green Party is on the brink of choosing its new leader. It usually does it once every two years and the contest can go fairly unnoticed. 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Chowns says many voters already have a "generalised warm feeling" towards the Greens, they just need convincing they're a credible option."It's really the difference between populism and popularity," she says."What they need to know is that if they put their vote in the Green box on the ballot paper that's got a really, really good chance of electing somebody." Time to capitalise on discontent? Plenty of analysts, and Green party members themselves, have questioned why the party hasn't already capitalised more on left-wing discontent with Labour, or why it hasn't pitched itself more effectively as an alternative to the traditional parties, in the way Reform UK Zarb-Cousin, a former spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn who joined the Greens in 2022, is a founding member of Greens Organise, a group that wants the party to take a more socialist stance. 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(The cut-off date to join and be able to vote in the leadership contest was July 31.)Baroness Bennett also points to "organic growth in the grassroots" since the general party has held 12 seats in council by-elections since 4 July 2024, and won another 14 - mostly at the expense of Labour, while losing four to the all marks a significant change from the past - the so-called "Green Surge" in 2015, under Baroness Bennett's leadership, saw the party's membership and vote share grow but still only returned Caroline Lucas to Parliament. Prof Neil Carter from the University of York, a long-time observer of environmental politics, says he can see an argument for following Polanski's strategy, as the Greens have traditionally had the greatest success with "metropolitan, liberal-minded, young, professionals".The sort of voters who are key to Chowns and Ramsay's approach could be harder to win over, he argues. 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Where Corbyn's new party fits in There is another challenge facing all candidates: the new party that will soon be launched by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, a former Labour Prof Carter and Mr Tryl warn that Polanski's strategy could be crowded out by this new party that has yet to be named but which, according to Corbyn, had 600,000 people sign up by early August. Ramsay goes further. He believes the new Corbyn party would blow Polanski's pitch "out of the water". Research carried out in June by More in Common suggested that the establishment of a Corbyn led-party could cut the Green's nationwide vote share from 9% to 5%. (This did not take into account who would be leading the Greens).Polanski has signalled he would be willing to co-operate with a possible Corbyn-led project and believes the Greens' position as an already established party will mean he can is Ramsay and Chowns who have secured what could be considered the "OG" of Green endorsements: the former MP Caroline Lucas. The strategy they propose sticking with is based on the one she used to get elected as the first ever Green MP in 2010, and focuses on intensive local campaigning. The question of who to target Both leadership pitches include carrying on with local targeting but Polanski believes it can't be scaled up sufficiently to get large numbers of seats on its dismisses this idea: "My vision at the next general election is that we will have multiple large numbers of target seats and definitely more than one in every region." With either approach, the Greens face other obstacles, such as party's principle of not being funded by large donors means they lack the financial resources of other political parties. During the election period, the party raised just £160,000, compared with more than £1.6m for both Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats, and £9.5m by Green leader has also little direct control over policy, as it is set by the members - not that there is much difference between the candidates. Polanski has gone further than current party policy by suggesting the UK should leave Nato, but there are only a few differences between the candidates' public positions. Ultimately, whoever is chosen to lead the party this time will likely face re-election again before the next general election. The political landscape may have changed further but there is certainly an opportunity for the Greens if they land on the right Mr Tryl puts it, "In the age of very fragmented multi party politics, small vote shares can deliver outsized results".Top picture credit: Dan Kitwood / Leon Neal via Getty BBC InDepth is the home on the website and app for the best analysis, with fresh perspectives that challenge assumptions and deep reporting on the biggest issues of the day. And we showcase thought-provoking content from across BBC Sounds and iPlayer too. You can send us your feedback on the InDepth section by clicking on the button below.
The Independent
3 hours ago
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Rachel Reeves to take aim at environmental protections in bid to speed up infrastructure projects, say reports
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
White pupils are the least likely group to get into a top university - with just one in 10 expected to land a spot
White pupils are the least likely group to get into a top university for the third year running, analysis suggests. Official data from the Department for Education (DfE) shows only 11.7 per cent of white pupils are attending the highest-ranking third of universities by age 19. This compares with 12.1 per cent of black pupils, 15.5 per cent of those who are mixed race and 18.6 per cent of Asians. The underperformance of white students is partly driven by British pupils from low-income families – one of the lowest-achieving sub-categories. Only 3 per cent of these pupils made it into 'high-tariff' universities – defined as the top for entry requirements. It comes after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson pledged last week to make raising standards for white working-class pupils a priority. She said it was a 'national disgrace' that so many were 'written off' at school and failed to achieve their potential in exams. Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: 'It is striking how well young people from the ethnic minorities do in education in this country. The underperformance of white students is partly driven by British pupils from low-income families – one of the lowest-achieving sub-categories. Only 3 per cent of these pupils made it into 'high-tariff' universities – defined as the top for entry requirements (file image) 'Some of those who were born abroad come from countries where if you don't earn, you don't eat. 'They understand the crucial role that education plays in living the good life, whereas young people in this country have grown used to being supported by the state.' The rate of entering university was also lower for British-born pupils than for those who had a migrant background. Entry for native English-speakers was 42.8 per cent, while for those whose first language is not English it was 60.9 per cent. Professor Smithers said the data suggested universities were welcoming to ethnic minorities, following claims from some campaigners that they are institutionally racist. He added: 'The myth of university racism comes from the US and has been taken up by sociology departments in this country, which can become training grounds for activists who spend their years on campus seeking out every small sign that can be interpreted as racism.' The rate of entering university was also lower for British-born pupils than for those who had a migrant background. Entry for native English-speakers was 42.8 per cent, while for those whose first language is not English it was 60.9 per cent A DfE spokesman said: 'This Government is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university – regardless of their background. 'We know baked-in inequalities remain in our education system, which is why universities must do more to expand opportunity and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students.' The analysis of 2023/24 data – the latest available – covers pupils who attended English state schools, not those in private schools or Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
