Why are white British boys falling behind at school?
White British pupils are falling behind students from other ethnic backgrounds by the time they reach their GCSEs because of a lack of support from their parents, according to a new report.
The research, by the CentreForum think tank, suggests white British children were among the top three highest achievers at the age of five.
But by the age of 16, the group's performance slips to thirteenth in a table behind those of Chinese, Indian, Asian and black African heritage.
A Black Country deputy headteacher said today parents had a key role to play in making sure their children are motivated to achieve at secondary school level.
Researchers said parents' aspirations played a smaller role than their support for the pupil, with those from ethnic backgrounds being more supportive of their children than white parents.
Sukhjot Dhami, deputy headteacher of High Arcal School in Dudley, said: "This is something that we've been talking about in education for about 10 years.
"White British boys in particular - especially those from low income families - tend to perform worse than many other groups.
"I think in certain parts of the country these problems are exacerbated by students coming from low income backgrounds.
"It has been a longstanding problem. I think one of the main issues is that many of the boys we are focused on have low aspirations and negative attitudes to education.
"It is really important that parents stress the importance of education.
"Some parents might have had poor experiences themselves in education but they need to encourage their children."
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We welcome this report which shows the stark choice we face in education today - either we prepare today's young people to compete with the best in the world, or we don't.
"That's why we've taken the decision to set the new GCSE 'good pass' in line with the average performance in high-performing countries such as Finland, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
"Every time we have raised the bar for schools and colleges they have risen to meet the challenge, and we are confident that this is no exception.
"Over time we expect to see more pupils reach this new higher standard and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers continuing to narrow."
