Ethnicity, educational attainment and the transition from school

Differences between ethnic groups in educational attainment and transition from school are investigated using pooled cross-sectional data for the period 1992-98 obtained from the Youth Cohort Studies, School Performance Tables and the Schools' Census. After controlling for family background, peer group, schooling and neighbourhood, ethnic minority youths (except for Afro-Caribbeans) perform substantially better in national exams than whites. Staying on is influenced by prior educational attainment, peer group, schooling and ethnic origin. Non-whites are more likely to stay on and less likely to enter the labour market. The results vary between boys and girls.