Of youngsters educated in the state sector, 64% of Asian students and 62% of black students went on to higher education in 2012-13, compared to just 45% of white students.
Asian students are the most likely to study at a top-flight university, with 12% going on to a Russell Group university – including Oxford and Cambridge – compared with 11% of white students and 6% of black students.A similar picture can be seen post-GCSE, with 93% of Asian and black students continuing their education, compared to 87% of white students.
Ofsted, the schools watchdog, has previously highlighted the problem of underachievement of white working class children, which has also been the subject of an inquiry by the cross-party education committee.
The government, publishing the “destination data”, said the figures showed that thousands more school-leavers are staying in education or going into employment or training. \
Between October 2012 and March 2013, 91% of school-leavers were either in education (88%), employment or training, an increase from 89% in the previous year.
After A-levels, 71% were in education, training or employment, slightly down on the previous year (74%). The numbers of school-leavers going on to university, meanwhile, showed an increase to 53% in the rush to beat the tripling of tuition fees to £9,000 in 2011-12, followed by a slight dip to 48% in 2012-13.