All ethnic groups improve at GCSE and GNVQ

Citation

(2004), "All ethnic groups improve at GCSE and GNVQ", Education + Training, Vol. 46 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2004.00446eab.008

All ethnic groups improve at GCSE and GNVQ

All ethnic groups improve at GCSE and GNVQ

Pupils from every ethnic group have improved in their GCSE and GNVQ results, according to figures that show how pupils are doing in all Key Stage tests and GCSEs, broken down by ethnicity, gender, English as an additional language, special educational needs and free school meals.

Although there was a change in the way ethnic data were collected between 2002 and 2003, the data broadly show the following improvements in the percentage of pupils getting five or more grades A* to C at GCSE/GNVQ:

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  White – up 1.8 percentage points, to 51.3 per cent;

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  Black Caribbean – up 3.7 percentage points, to 32.9 per cent;

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  Black African – up 3.3 percentage points, to 40.7 per cent;

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  Indian – up 2.6 percentage points, to 65.2 per cent;

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  Pakistani – up 3 percentage points, to 41.5 per cent;

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  Bangladeshi – up 2.2 percentage points, to 45.5 per cent;

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  Chinese – up 4.7 percentage points, to 74.8 per cent.

The national average in 2003 was 50.7 per cent.

Schools Minister Stephen Twigg said: “I welcome the improvement these figures show. But we must not be complacent – while some pupils from all ethnic groups achieve at the highest level, these figures show that many pupils, particularly from African-Caribbean backgrounds, are not achieving their potential through school.

“These data show us the scale of the challenge and that is why I place closing that achievement gap at the heart of our improvement agenda. We have a national strategy to raise the achievement of minority ethnic pupils and we are working hard with schools to ensure that every single pupil gets the chance to achieve his or her potential.”

Other key findings include:

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  Chinese pupils are the best-performing minority ethnic group in all subjects at all levels. For example, at Key Stage 3 mathematics, 90 per cent of Chinese pupils achieved the expected level, compared to 71 per cent nationally.

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  Indian pupils and pupils of mixed white and Asian heritage consistently achieve above the national average at all levels.

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  Irish pupils perform better than the national average at Key Stages 2 and 3, and at GCSE/GNVQ. For example, 60.1 per cent of Irish pupils achieved five or more grades A* to C at GCSE/GNVQ, compared to 50.7 per cent nationally.