Education Affected By Race? White Students Trailing Behind Other Ethnic Groups in GCSE

GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education), a qualifying exam in the UK administered to students from 14 to 16 years old have been indicating a bigger lag among white students. A recent analysis of GCSE results show that students from different ethnicities are out-performing white British students.

According to The Guardian, the disparity in GCSE results between white British students and students from other ethnic groups is being credited to the quality of parental support. GCSE results are telling of the general lack of support for White British students from their parents when the students reach the age of 16.

The analysis points out that these same white British students may have displayed excellent achievement quotients as early as the age of 5. Interestingly, research by CentreForum submits that the top achievers among children, aged 5, include British white children. The dynamics shift, however, so that by the time white British students reach the age of 16, their group is at rank 13 rather than among the top three of the achievement table. Students from Chinese, Indian, Asian and black African heritage are often found well ahead of White British students in GCSE results.

CentreForum's associate director for education, Jo Hutchinson, qualifies that while most parents desire successful education for their children, not all are able to help their children achieve this. Parents from other ethnicities appear to have more consistency in providing hands-on guidance to their children, as the GCSE results would attest. According to The Telegraph Asian parents, in fact, tend to use a kind of "tiger parenting" style, which helps the children perform better in school.

"What is bigger than aspiration is parental engagement," Jo Hutchinson explained. "We are talking about things such as parents attending parents' evenings at school, talking to their children about subject options, supervising homework, ensuring that the family eats together and has regular bedtimes."

CentreForum's executive chairman, David Laws, points out that poor performance is not intrinsic to white British students given the attainment level they display when they are very young. However, the GCSE results show that these students are unable to make the most of their educational opportunities in comparison to other ethnic groups.

David Cameron thinks all children should have one, but what is a #tigermum? @amychua explains: https://t.co/7crcDGMh4E

— Bloomsbury UK (@BloomsburyBooks) 12 January 2016

The Telegraph reports that the CentreForum research indicates that a good number of white British students will fall below global standards by the year 2030. The GCSE results analysis reportedly serves as a flag to all involved that inability among white British students to reach world class standards is a more serious problem then generally thought.

The Department for Education reportedly took the GCSE results report on board and are keen to address the situation by raising the standard. A spokesperson for the agency said that the department will be aligning to countries characterized by high performance, such as Finland, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland, on the GCSE passing rate.