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White working-class the worst GCSE students, study finds
White working-class the worst GCSE students, study finds
Jessica Shepherd
Thursday March 27, 2008
EducationGuardian.co.uk
White working-class teenagers perform worse than their black and Asian classmates in GCSEs, a government-backed study has found.
White 16-year-olds from poorer backgrounds make the least progress at secondary school of any ethnic or national group, the research, published today by Warwick University, argues.
Living in poverty, rented accommodation and deprived neighbourhoods has a worse effect on the exam results of white working-class 16-year-olds than it does on other ethnic groups, Dr Steve Strand, an education lecturer at Warwick, claims.
Strand says this is also the case when teenagers are brought up by a single parent or have a mother without qualifications.
Statistics from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, show just 15% of white working-class boys finish compulsory education with basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic.
For black boys from similar backgrounds, the figure is 22%, while it is 29% for Asian boys and 52% for Chinese boys.
Some 20% of white working-class girls left with the basic skills.
Strand found white working-class teenagers had the lowest expectations of the exam results they would achieve of any ethnic group. This, he said, contrasted with the high aspirations of their Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and Black African classmates, who out-perform them.
White poor youngsters also did the least amount of homework, he said.
Black Caribbean boys from disadvantaged backgrounds perform only slightly better than their white working-class classmates.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the under-achievement of black pupils was a worry.
She said: "We have raised our concern that the equality agenda isn't given the priority it should be. We shouldn't be making a judgment that schools are doing anything inappropriate though."
White 16-year-olds from privileged backgrounds are one of the highest achieving groups. Indian pupils, on average, perform "substantially ahead" of their white classmates, the study found.
Pakistani pupils perform just below their white classmates, on average.
Strand said when parents monitored the whereabouts of their teenagers and gave them access to a computer at home pupils' exam results were higher.
He said: "White British pupils from low socio-economically classified homes made the least progress over the course of secondary school. Poor progress was most pronounced for white British boys and girls from low socio-economically classified homes."
He added that public examinations at 16 were "high stakes examinations" that had a direct impact on teenagers' employment prospects and entry to further education.
Strand said: "This [study] does not indicate any quick fix to long-standing issues of low attainment. However, it does indicate areas where intervention programmes can focus, early in pupils' school careers, to have the best chance of impacting on examination attainment at age 16.
"These factors play an important role in accounting for the greater progress during secondary school and the high attainment at age 16 of most minority ethnic groups, as well as the low attainment White British pupils from low socio-economically classified homes.
"However there are still questions about why in particular Black Caribbean and Black African boys from high socio-economically classified homes underachieve relative to their white British peers, despite the high aspirations of the pupils and parents, their positive attitudes to school and high frequency of undertaking homework.
"The impact of factors such as teacher expectations need to be further investigated and acted upon."
The Warwick report adds to mounting evidence that challenges common perceptions that African-Caribbean, black or Bangladeshi pupils do worse than white pupils.
A report last year by the Joseph Rowntreee Foundation revealed white working-class boys accounted for almost half of those leaving school with low qualifications or no exam successes at all.
The study analysed the results of 15,066 16-year-olds.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2268557,00.html
http://www.24dash.com/news/Education/2008-03-19-White-working-class-boys-failing-at-school
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7316891.stm
Jessica Shepherd
Thursday March 27, 2008
EducationGuardian.co.uk
White working-class teenagers perform worse than their black and Asian classmates in GCSEs, a government-backed study has found.
White 16-year-olds from poorer backgrounds make the least progress at secondary school of any ethnic or national group, the research, published today by Warwick University, argues.
Living in poverty, rented accommodation and deprived neighbourhoods has a worse effect on the exam results of white working-class 16-year-olds than it does on other ethnic groups, Dr Steve Strand, an education lecturer at Warwick, claims.
Strand says this is also the case when teenagers are brought up by a single parent or have a mother without qualifications.
Statistics from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, show just 15% of white working-class boys finish compulsory education with basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic.
For black boys from similar backgrounds, the figure is 22%, while it is 29% for Asian boys and 52% for Chinese boys.
Some 20% of white working-class girls left with the basic skills.
Strand found white working-class teenagers had the lowest expectations of the exam results they would achieve of any ethnic group. This, he said, contrasted with the high aspirations of their Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black Caribbean and Black African classmates, who out-perform them.
White poor youngsters also did the least amount of homework, he said.
Black Caribbean boys from disadvantaged backgrounds perform only slightly better than their white working-class classmates.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the under-achievement of black pupils was a worry.
She said: "We have raised our concern that the equality agenda isn't given the priority it should be. We shouldn't be making a judgment that schools are doing anything inappropriate though."
White 16-year-olds from privileged backgrounds are one of the highest achieving groups. Indian pupils, on average, perform "substantially ahead" of their white classmates, the study found.
Pakistani pupils perform just below their white classmates, on average.
Strand said when parents monitored the whereabouts of their teenagers and gave them access to a computer at home pupils' exam results were higher.
He said: "White British pupils from low socio-economically classified homes made the least progress over the course of secondary school. Poor progress was most pronounced for white British boys and girls from low socio-economically classified homes."
He added that public examinations at 16 were "high stakes examinations" that had a direct impact on teenagers' employment prospects and entry to further education.
Strand said: "This [study] does not indicate any quick fix to long-standing issues of low attainment. However, it does indicate areas where intervention programmes can focus, early in pupils' school careers, to have the best chance of impacting on examination attainment at age 16.
"These factors play an important role in accounting for the greater progress during secondary school and the high attainment at age 16 of most minority ethnic groups, as well as the low attainment White British pupils from low socio-economically classified homes.
"However there are still questions about why in particular Black Caribbean and Black African boys from high socio-economically classified homes underachieve relative to their white British peers, despite the high aspirations of the pupils and parents, their positive attitudes to school and high frequency of undertaking homework.
"The impact of factors such as teacher expectations need to be further investigated and acted upon."
The Warwick report adds to mounting evidence that challenges common perceptions that African-Caribbean, black or Bangladeshi pupils do worse than white pupils.
A report last year by the Joseph Rowntreee Foundation revealed white working-class boys accounted for almost half of those leaving school with low qualifications or no exam successes at all.
The study analysed the results of 15,066 16-year-olds.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2268557,00.html
http://www.24dash.com/news/Education/2008-03-19-White-working-class-boys-failing-at-school
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7316891.stm
Scroll to see replies
Reply 1
old news. year on year someone will publish the same findings. it's something we are all aware of.
Reply 2
Well a new study has been undertaken so I dont see the harm of talking about it.
Actually this is new news to me. I was always led to belive that black males were the underperformers, turns out white males underachieve aswell.
Actually this is new news to me. I was always led to belive that black males were the underperformers, turns out white males underachieve aswell.
Reply 3
lone_rider2007
Actually this is new news to me. I was always led to belive that black males were the underperformers, turns out white males underachieve aswell.
Actually this is new news to me. I was always led to belive that black males were the underperformers, turns out white males underachieve aswell.
That's 'cos you're stupid. Well probably not stupid. Just ill-informed. It's amazing what a bit of reading can do.
Funnily enough, I remember reading that a taxi driver without any formal qualifications was a 'Mastermind' champion. 
Yeah...that was him
He might not have had academic qualifications but he was definitely more intelligent that all those academics he was up against.
Yeah...that was him
One of the most famous winners was Fred Housego, the London taxi-driver who won the Mastermind title in 1980
He might not have had academic qualifications but he was definitely more intelligent that all those academics he was up against.
Reply 6
yawn
Funnily enough, I remember reading that a taxi driver without any formal qualifications was a 'Mastermind' champion.
He might not have had academic qualifications but he was definitely more intelligent that all those academics he was up against.
He might not have had academic qualifications but he was definitely more intelligent that all those academics he was up against.
An excellent find.
Reply 7
^^Christopher Hughes one of the Eggheads, who has also won Mastermind, used to be a train driver.
Reply 8
doesn't surprise me being a white working class male myself. Whilst I did well in some of my GCSEs, I did poorly in a great deal more. I didn't have any motivation when I was at school or any interest in achieving high grades, I was quite happy to do any old menial job. Luckily I managed to see some sense eventually and turned things around.
Reply 9
He might not have had academic qualifications but he was definitely more intelligent that all those academics he was up against.
Reply 10
Agreed.
made_of_fail
knowing a shitload of trivia does not make you intelligent.
I disagree...the assimililation, retention and recall of 'trivia' as you describle a veritable treasure chest of broad knowledge is an indication of intelligence as any educational psychologist will know.
There's a huge difference between being intellectual and being intelligent and the former is no guarantee of the latter...witness Prince Charles.
Reply 12
i'm not going to debate what exactly winning Mastermind implies about your cognitive ability. but i still don't see what your point was. mr housego was unable to succeed in formal education; in other words, he failed to make proper use of his supposedly considerable intellectual ability.
Reply 13
hermaphrodite
That's 'cos you're stupid. Well probably not stupid. Just ill-informed. It's amazing what a bit of reading can do.
bit harsh.
made_of_fail
i'm not going to debate what exactly winning Mastermind implies about your cognitive ability. but i still don't see what your point was. mr housego was unable to succeed in formal education; in other words, he failed to make proper use of his supposedly considerable intellectual ability.
My point was made in response to a poster who implied that bus drivers were lacking intelligence and were just 'fodder' to provide transport for people and therefore didn't need to pass public exams.
Fred Housego didn't fail, since he didn't take the exams. In the days that he was at school the compulsory schooling age was 15 years. Jobs were plentiful, there wasn't the emphasis on taking external exams and many, very able pupils left school without taking GCE's.
Therefore you comments about him failing to make proper use of his 'supposedly considerable intelligence (not intellectualism, since that is not indication of intelligence) is not necessarily a valid observation.
lone_rider2007
A report last year by the Joseph Rowntreee Foundation revealed white working-class boys accounted for almost half of those leaving school with low qualifications or no exam successes at all.
Well some group has to be worst, doesn't it? What I want to know is whether it's statistically significant enough to suggest a trend. I don't know why they never address this.
made_of_fail
knowing a shitload of trivia does not make you intelligent.
Hmm...novel avoidance of the swear filter.
Reply 16
Fred Housego didn't fail, since he didn't take the exams. In the days that he was at school the compulsory schooling age was 15 years. Jobs were plentiful, there wasn't the emphasis on taking external exams and many, very able pupils left school without taking GCE's.
Therefore you comments about him failing to make proper use of his 'supposedly considerable intelligence (not intellectualism, since that is not indication of intelligence) is not necessarily a valid observation.
Therefore you comments about him failing to make proper use of his 'supposedly considerable intelligence (not intellectualism, since that is not indication of intelligence) is not necessarily a valid observation.
Hmm...novel avoidance of the swear filter.
Reply 19
lone_rider2007
. . . .
Because you have an @leeds.ac.uk address will you ask the Widening Participation Office at your uni what proportion of the students at your uni are "white and working-class" (and report back to us).
Also, how would you describe yourself in terms of race and class? And did you go to a Public, Grammar or Comprehensive School?
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