Department for Education study finds deprived white pupils are falling behind ethnic minority peers due to poor language and literacy skills

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

White working-class children should receive additional help with English so they can catch up with their ethnic minority peers, who are outperforming them in school, according to a new report.

Although English may be their first language, white children from deprived backgrounds are being held back by poor language and literacy skills, the Department for Education study said.



In contrast, ethnic minority children for whom English is an additional language have caught up, and now outperform their classmates partly as a result of interventions to improve their language skills, experts believe.



The study was commissioned in response to growing concern about underachievement in schools among poorer white children, and explores why pupils in some ethnic groups are more resilient to the impact of poverty on educational achievement, compared with white British pupils.

Last year, the House of Commons education select committee conducted an inquiry which found that white working-class children are falling far behind their classmates and called for swift action to support struggling pupils. Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, has also highlighted the problem.

In 2013, white working-class pupils were the lowest attaining at GCSE with just 32% getting five or more A*-Cs, including English and maths; Chinese students were the highest achieving group among those on free school meals, with 77%, followed by Indian and Bangladeshi pupils (62% and 59% respectively).



Even at the age of five, when children first start school, white working-class pupils are among the three lowest achieving groups; at 11, they are the second lowest achieving group, with just 58% reaching their expected targets.

Educational experts are now hoping that some of the strategies used to boost the attainment of ethnic minority pupils – including improved language skills – might now be employed to support their white peers and help them catch up.



The report said: “The higher educational attainment of pupils from ethnic minority groups relative to white working-class pupils is an important issue for policymakers and practitioners and one which should be fully understood.



“Improved language skills have been identified as a key factor enabling ethnic minority pupils to catch up with white British children over time.

“Studies indicate that while white working-class pupils do not have English as a specific barrier, language and literacy skills are an area of concern. They might therefore benefit from targeted help.



“Evidence suggests that language and literature interventions in the early years can be effective in ensuring children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not fall behind. Therefore, additional resources to assist white working-class children with language and literacy are likely to be best targeted at the youngest pupils.”

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While schools can play a role in raising attainment, the report points out that parents and family are a far more powerful influence on a child’s outcomes, with ethnic minority parents more likely than white working-class parents “to have attitudes and behaviours” that increase their child’s attainment.



Some ethnic groups, even from more disadvantaged backgrounds, are more likely to have paid for private tuition or some form of additional schooling, and are more involved with their child’s school, according to the report.

Equally powerful is the way in which parental aspirations, or lack of them, can impact on a child’s achievement. The report said: “There is limited evidence on the mechanisms through which parental aspirations may affect attainment.

“Existing research has proposed potential reasons for low aspirations among white working-class parents, including the young age of many parents, a lack of belief in the value of education, as well as high rates of unemployment, but these explanations have not been rigorously tested.

“Other evidence has suggested aspirations are not low, rather that parents do not have access to the necessary information or the knowledge to support learning.”



Steve Strand, a professor of education at Oxford University and one of the authors of the report, pointed to earlier interventions such as the ethnic minority achievement grant, which was introduced in 1999 to support the attainment of pupils from ethnic minority groups, and other similar national strategies.

He said: “If there’s that kind of consensus and focus you can do something substantial about some of the deep-rooted issues.”



Prof Strand warned, however, against expecting too much of schools alone and said there was a complex interplay between home and school which contributed to a child’s educational outcomes.

He said: “It’s not all about what schools can do. The school is only one of the agencies in young people’s lives. The home environment is also incredibly important.

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“Where there’s a real push towards academic success as a route out of poverty, which is a really strong dynamic in ethnic minority families, that means the school and the home are working in cohesion.

“It’s much more challenging among more disaffected white working-class young people. The picture is very different in different parts of the country – we know that we have challenging areas in the north-east, for example.

“It’s important in terms of national policy that it’s seen there are limits to what schools can achieve. It’s important they have additional resources, but they can’t do it all on their own.”

Prof Strand warned against penalising schools educating underachieving white working-class children. Earlier this month, the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, vowed to “sweep away bureaucratic and legal loopholes” obstructing the takeover of as many as 1,000 struggling local authority schools in England and their rapid conversion into academies.

He added: “Just shutting a school and turning it into an academy is not a useful solution. There are issues that need to be taken on board.”



A Department for Education spokesperson said: “At the heart of our determination to provide real social justice is a commitment that every child, regardless of background, is extended the opportunities that allow them to realise their potential.

“That is why our reforms place high expectations at the heart of our school system, with a rigorous new curriculum, world-class exams and a new accountability system which rewards those schools that push every child to achieve their best, rather than focusing on those at the C/D borderline.

“Alongside our £2.5bn pupil premium, the result of these reforms is that the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is narrowing at primary and secondary level.”