The Education Secretary has warned that “the health of our society as a whole” is being damaged by white working-class children achieving poorer exam results on average than their peers.
Bridget Phillipson pointed out that just one in five children from white working-class backgrounds achieve a grade 5 or above, known as a strong pass, ahead of GCSE results being revealed on Thursday.
The minister told The Telegraph the demographic had been “let down” and Britain’s productivity was suffering as a result.
She told the newspaper: “There is one statistic that stands above the rest. In 2024, only 19pc of white British, working-class children achieved a strong pass in maths and English GCSE.
“This data goes back to 2017. Alarmingly, it looks almost identical today to how it did then. It’s appalling, and I won’t stand by and watch those numbers continue to grow.
“It’s not just the life chances of those children that are being damaged – it’s the health of our society as a whole. Swathes of human capability and productivity lost.”
Ms Phillipson previously said it was a “national disgrace” that so many white working-class children are being “written off” in the education system.
Earlier this month, she pledged to tackle the “thorny” generational challenge of British white working-class young people falling behind their peers and labelled the issue a priority for the year ahead.
The Institute for Government (IfG) think tank also revealed on Wednesday that disadvantaged white pupils in England have “particularly poor educational outcomes”.
The think tank has said tackling high absence rates – particularly among disadvantaged pupils – “will be key” to narrowing educational inequalities.
Thousands of teenagers received their results on Thursday, with London and south-east England seeing larger year-on-year falls in the GCSE pass rate than all other regions.
The 2025 exam figures show some 71.6% of entries in London were awarded grade 4 or above this year, which is considered a standard pass.
This is the highest for any region in England, but down nearly a full percentage point from 72.5% in 2024.
Education minister Catherine McKinnell added on Thursday morning that white working-class children underachieving “has persisted over many years”.
She told Times Radio: “We’ve seen there have been some improvements in our school system in the last decade, there have been over 30 years improvements in our school system.
“But this challenge has persisted, which is why we are very focused on tackling child poverty in the early years.
“We’re extending free school meals to (an) additional half a million children.
“We’re investing in free breakfast clubs to make sure that children get that really good start to the day, both from a socialised perspective, but also food.
“So, we are tackling what we see are the barriers that are holding young people back, and also making sure that they want to be in school as well.”
Teenagers who moved from primary to secondary school in the middle of the pandemic are waking up to their GCSE results on Thursday, with more than one in five entries expected to score the top grades.
Ms Phillipson has also praised the students for showing “remarkable resilience” despite the disruption to their education.
She said: “These young people moved from primary to secondary school right in the midst of the pandemic, showing remarkable resilience despite the disruption to those crucial years of education.
“Their options now are better than ever, whether it’s A-levels, T-levels, or an apprenticeship.
“While it’s a moment to celebrate, today’s results will expose the inequalities that are entrenched in our education system.
“Too many young people continue to have their life chances defined by their background and where they live, and while we are beginning to see promising signs in critical areas like attendance and teacher recruitment, I am absolutely determined to deliver on our Plan for Change and truly break the link between background and success once and for all.”
