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.