The forgotten, part two

Research by the IFS tells us about the other side of privilege and disadvantage

Last week, we covered a report from the Commons education committee suggesting that the needs of white working-class pupils had been neglected by the English education system. The report’s authors identified “white working-class underachievement”, which they called “real and persistent”.

The data used by the report suggested that of those eligible for free school meals—as a measure of disadvantage—only 16 per cent of white pupils went on to higher education. This contrasted with 72.8 per cent of Chinese pupils, 59 per cent of pupils from a Black African background and 31.8 per cent of pupils from a Black Caribbean background.