A report from the Rowntree Foundation suggests that white, working class boys are under achieving. When other factors such as school meals and neighbourhood are taken into account white boys are doing worse than their black, Afro Caribbean or Banglideshi counterparts.
The importance of success in primary school is also highlighted, as those white children who do badly at primary school and more likely to fail at the end of secondary school than those pupils from ethnic minorities. Boys generally outnumber girls by three to two as low achievers at primary school.
James Meikle, education correspondent for the Guardian gives more details.