London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Poorer white pupils neglected for decades, say MPs

Poorer white pupils neglected for decades, say MPs

"It's nothing short of a scandal" how white working class pupils in England have been "let down and neglected" by the education system for decades, says a hard-hitting report from MPs.

Robert Halfon, education select committee chairman, dismissed "divisive concepts like 'white privilege' that pit one group against another".

Poorer white pupils were falling behind "every step of the way", he warned.

The Department for Education said it was investing in "levelling up".

The report accused the government of "muddled thinking" in failing to target support at the "forgotten" disadvantaged white pupils - who underachieve from early years through to GCSEs, A-levels and university entry.

'Swept under the carpet'


Mr Halfon described it as a "major social injustice" that so little attention had been paid to how white pupils on free school meals underachieved compared with free school meals pupils from most other ethnic groups.

"If you think it's about poverty, then it doesn't explain why most other ethnic groups do much better," he said.

*  At GCSE, in 2019, 18% of white British pupils on free meals achieved grade 4 in English and maths, compared with 23% for the average for pupils on free meals

*  For university entry, 16% of white British pupils on free meals get places, compared with 59% of black African pupils on free meals, 59% of Bangladeshi pupils on free meals and 32% of black Caribbean pupils on free meals.

The places where people live and their local challenges were part of the bigger picture of achievement, MPs reported

The committee warned the scale of the problem, affecting almost a million young people, could not be "swept under the carpet".

The idea of "white privilege" in education was rejected - and the report suggested schools should consider whether using this terminology was "consistent under their duties" in equality legislation.

The committee described "white privilege" as the idea of "societal privilege that benefits white people over other ethnic groups" - and said "privilege is the very opposite to what disadvantaged white children" experience.

Mr Halfon warned its use in education was "divisive" and likely to "promote disharmony".

But a Labour MP on the committee, Kim Johnson, rejected the references to white privilege as trying to "stoke the culture war" and said the report was avoiding the "lack of investment" in education and local communities.

Pupil's view: The 'that's not for me' attitude
Oliver is planning to go to university - and warns about stereotypes being created about white working class teenagers

"There's this nagging feeling that it's not for me," says 18-year-old Oliver Jones-Lyons, describing the "suspicions" about the value of education that he thinks hold back some white working class communities.

He has been a pupil on free meals at a school near Newcastle and says there is still a concern about the education system harbouring snobbery and class prejudice, even down to stereotypes about regional accents which "mark you out as different".

There's an inclination to turn away from exams and instead say "my dad can get us a job".

"There's a lack of explanation of how education is helping you," Oliver says.

But he argues "the biggest barriers to education are outside education" - in places with limited job opportunities, bad housing, poor public transport and families not able to support their children in school.

And he says that while he describes himself as a "white working class boy" he doesn't like the way that the label is being used to "create more stereotypes".

"It shouldn't be about putting people against each other" or about "culture wars", he says, and rejects the white working class identity being caricatured as being bigoted or narrow minded.

A better description would be people "more likely to undersell ourselves" and to dislike showing off, says Oliver.

But his own ambition has been supported by working with the Social Mobility Foundation charity - and he is waiting to see if he gets the A-levels grades needed to get into Oxford University next year.

The report calls for a targeted use of pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils and investment in "family hubs" to reach parents disengaged with education or who might have had a bad experience of school themselves.

Mr Halfon also highlighted a divide between the amount of funding and political focus that helped to improve schools in big cities - while many white working class pupils were in towns which had less investment.

"The rising tide of higher national standards has not lifted the boats of our white lower income communities," said former Ofsted chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw.

"Two thirds of children on free school meals live in these communities. We will never reduce educational inequality unless we urgently address this longstanding issue," he said.

Parent's view: 'Not a lot of opportunities'
Kerry would like her sons to be able to go to college and get an apprenticeship

The report argues that vocational routes in education need to be clearly available - showing the connection between qualifications and work.

This chimes with the concerns of Kerry, a mother in Mansfield who is thinking about what jobs will be available for her sons, Bailey and Finley, in the years ahead.

Her own parents stepped from school into factory work, which she says offered secure jobs.

The current world of employment seems more precarious, she says.

"I don't see good jobs arising, I don't think there's much opportunity out there," says Kerry

"I want them to go to college, then get apprenticeships," she says.

The aim is "guaranteed work" and she is worried about the cost of university. "As a parent, I wouldn't be able to fund them to go," says Kerry.

The underachievement is down to a "poisonous mix of place, family and local culture", said Chris Zarraga, director of Schools North East, a regional network of head teachers in one of the areas with the biggest concentrations of disadvantaged white pupils.

He said it meant tackling the consequences of "long-term deprivation", where there might be fifth and sixth generations of workless families.

The use of "white privilege" should be rejected in schools. says Robert Halfon.

"Schools can't do it alone," he said, warning that already the pandemic had seen schools having to cope with feeding and clothing pupils.

"We need a cross-party sense of urgency about solving these problems," he said.

Minority or majority?


The report calls for a better way of talking about ethnic differences in achievement - and maps the complications of terms such as "minorities" and "majorities".

There are high proportions of white pupils in areas such as the north east, while in many parts of London, white pupils are in a minority.

A recent campaign launched by Imperial College London to recruit more black science students showed how black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) figures can also conceal complex differences.

The leading science university has more BAME undergraduates than white - but only about 235 out of 10,000 students are black, with the great majority of these BAME students being from Asian backgrounds.

Labour's shadow education secretary, Kate Green, said the MPs' report showed the Conservative Party has "turned its back on these pupils who need most support, from knowingly underfunded free childcare places in early years to cutting the pupil premium".

A Department for Education spokesman said: "This government is focused on levelling up opportunity so that no young person is left behind."

"That's why we are providing the biggest uplift to school funding in a decade," said the DfE spokesman, with £3bn in recovery funding and existing plans to increase school budgets.

"The pupil premium is expected to increase to more than £2.5bn this year, through which schools can support pupils with extra teaching, academic support or activities like breakfast clubs or educational trips," he added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×