A 2024 report from the Education Policy Institute compared white British pupils’ attainment against other ethnic groups across education, from early years foundation stage to 16-19 education. They found that by the end of secondary school, most ethnic groups achieved higher GCSE grades than white British pupils in 2023. All ethnic groups (except white and black Caribbean, and white Irish pupils) had bigger improvements in attainment between 2019 to 2023 compared to white British pupils.

Data from A level and other 16 to 18 results: 2023 (revised) stated that 4.9% of students from the black Caribbean ethnic group got at least 3 A grades – the lowest percentage after the Irish Traveller (0.0%), and Gypsy and Roma ethnic groups (2.6%), whose figures are based on small numbers of students and are less reliable as a result. 13.6% of white British students got 3 A grades or better.

in 2024, students from the Chinese ethnic group had the highest entry rate into higher education (66.1%) and White students had the lowest (29.8%)

Recent research shows that young people from almost all ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to go to university by age 19 than White British pupils. This was the case even when accounting for prior attainment or socio-economic background. These differences were small for high-attaining students, but very large for students with lower school attainment. Lower-attaining ethnic minority students appear to strongly prefer university study over other options.