White students retain grip on elite universities

New research shows that white students are failing to keep pace with students from ethnic minorities at school – but are still keeping their grip on elite universities, writes Nick Morrison for Forbes.

The research, carried out by the Sutton Trust, a charity that aims to combat educational inequality, looked at the outcomes in public examinations taken at 16 by students from the most disadvantaged households in England. They found that just 28.3% of white students in this group hit the government target for test passes; among white boys it was just 24%. This compares with 74% of Chinese students, 48.2% of Asian students, 41.2% of black students and 37.5% of those of mixed race.

But, despite having poorer outcomes at the end of high school, and a lower rate of university entry overall, white students are still more likely to go to elite universities than their peers from other ethnic groups.
Full report on the Forbes site