Ethnic pupil targets vary widely

Social class is also said to be part of the story

Education authorities in England have set widely different targets for the attainment of pupils from ethnic groups, it has emerged.

Collectively the targets reflect exam results - with Chinese pupils top and black Caribbean bottom.

But pupils from the same ethnic group are expected to do up to 10 times better in one area than in another.

Data from 134 of the 150 authorities was obtained by the Times Educational Supplement (TES).

They have not been published prior to its Freedom of Information Act request.

The figures show the biggest range of expectation relates to pupils from Pakistani families.

In the London borough of Sutton - where expectations are generally very high - 88% of Pakistani pupils are expected to achieve at least five good GCSEs including English and maths.

In Telford and Wrekin, in Shropshire, only 9% are expected to manage this.

The targets for Bangladeshi pupils range from zero in Peterborough and 11% in Sunderland to 100% in Trafford.

Class effect

But this is where raw statistics can be misleading, the TES says. There were only two Bangladeshi pupils in Trafford, both of whom had met national standards in the previous tests they took aged 14.

Indeed surprise is expressed at the fine detail in the targets. Advice to the authorities is not to bother where fewer than 30 pupils are involved.

Differences between ethnic groups are often a matter of social class rather than ethnicity as such, experts say.

But actual exam results show that children from different ethnic groups in the same social class perform differently.

The targets flow from the duties on schools to promote the interests of all pupils.

They potentially cover up to 21 ethnic groups with two measures for the Key Stage 2 tests (end of primary school), four for Key Stage 3 (aged 14) and three for GCSEs.

Not all authorities have set targets for the whole range of ethnic groups.