White working-class children are falling behind their peers in all but 21 schools across the country, shocking official data has shown.
It means only a tiny fraction of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils doing as well as their peers.
Last night Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned that white working-class children were being ‘betrayed’ and left behind.
In what has been seen as an attempt to take on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Ms Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why such children are failing.
She said: ‘Across attendance, attainment and life chances, white working-class children and those with special educational needs do exceptionally poorly.
‘Put simply, these children have been betrayed – left behind in society’s rear-view mirror. They are children whose interests too many politicians have simply discarded.’
The proportion of white working-class pupils getting grades 5 or above in English and maths GCSE was 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average, according to the data.
But critics said Labour was only paying attention to the issue to counter the threat from Reform.
Tory schools spokesman Neil O’Brien said: ‘Everything Bridget Phillipson is doing is disastrous for white working-class kids.
‘Her trade union-led Schools Bill is smashing up 30 years of cross-party reforms which have raised standards in England.
‘Phillipson has axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist.
‘She has axed the behaviour hubs which were doing so much to improve discipline and standards in schools.
‘School funding formulas still tend to heavily favour urban areas. While 40 years ago, London was an education disaster zone, today it is the highest-achieving part of the country and the lowest levels of achievement are found in shire and coastal areas.’
At secondary school, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average.
Officials said the drivers of low attainment among white working-class pupils included a lack of parental involvement or aspiration.
According to the research, white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds and workless homes have the lowest aspirations of all groups.
But white working-class girls also fell in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years. The inquiry will be led by Sir Hamid Patel, who runs a number of outstanding schools across Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands.
Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins.
It will look at why white working-class children perform worse across measures including behaviour, attendance, mental health, attainment and life chances.
Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty said: ‘Since the early 2000s, white working-class pupils have fallen behind their peers at every level of education.
‘English and maths GCSEs are the bedrock of education and opportunity.
‘The Government must develop a strategy to close this attainment gap and ensure this group are no longer marginalised.
‘Labour must dispel the ongoing narrative around white privilege, as well as intergenerational disadvantage, geographic inequalities and disengagement from school, if they are serious about improving outcomes.’
Announcing the inquiry, Ms Phillipson said: ‘We’ll look closely at what’s working in the tiny number of schools that the data indicates may have cracked this problem for white working-class children.
‘My message to parents is that we will create a school system where every child, in every classroom, has the support they need to achieve, and a fair crack at making a success of their life.’