White working-class children are being left behind by schools as fresh research laid bare the sheer number of people leaving without jobs or training.
New analysis of Department for Education (DfE) figures by social justice charity Nacro has revealed the cohort is the most likely to leave school at 16 without going into employment or further education.
The data has shown after finishing secondary school, over one in five white boys (21.3 per cent) who come from disadvantaged backgrounds had not had a "sustained destination" following the 2024/25 academic year.
Disadvantaged backgrounds include those eligible for free school meals, grown up in care or who have spent time in alternative provision.
Meanwhile, sustained destination refers to the completion of at least six months of education, employment or apprenticeships in the year after finishing GCSEs.
The analysis also found the number of black working-class boys who had a sustained destination after finishing school was 10.2 per cent – more than double the number of their white counterparts.
The figure for Asian or British Asian pupils was 12.2 per cent, while for mixed or multiple ethnic groups, the number was 17.8 per cent.
The analysis also revealed the rate of white working-class boys without a sustained destination has jumped by four cent since the 2018/19 academic year.
Over the same period, the rate had spiked by three per cent for their Asian counterparts and one per cent for black working-class boys.
The number of white working-class girls not in education, employment or training after finishing Year 11 has also risen to 18.6 per cent, a 4.5 per cent hike.
Over the same period, the rate for Asian working-class girls was 6.9 per cent, and for black working-class girls, it was 6.2 per cent.
Nacro chief executive Enver Solomon warned the damning figures show tens of thousands of British youngsters are being "failed by the system".
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He added: "Rather than thriving in education, they end up falling out of the system with their contribution to society lost. This is unacceptable and must be addressed.”
The social justice charity warned white working-class children will continue to fall behind unless the Government rolls out schemes and internships targeted to help the struggling demographic.
Nacro urged Andy Burnham to roll out a range of specialist post-16 options, including supported internships, pre-apprenticeships and tailored small-scale provision to address the growing crisis.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell told The Telegraph: “Too many young people, particularly white working-class boys, feel education isn’t working for them. I’m on a personal mission to change that.”
She said the Government was “already making progress on tackling the root causes”, adding: "That’s why we’re introducing new, high-esteem technical and vocational qualifications, putting these on par with academic subjects so every young person leaves education with the skills and confidence to succeed.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK education spokesman Suella Braverman warned: “White working-class boys and girls have been thrown on the scrapheap in favour of diversity, equity, and inclusion nonsense, filling quotas, and ticking boxes by Tory and Labour governments. It has gone too far.
“This disparity must be addressed. Young British people should never be disadvantaged in their own country.”
The fresh analysis comes just weeks before Alan Milburn publishes a report of Britain's youth unemployment next month.
Earlier this week, the former health secretary called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to "redistribute money" from benefits payments to support young people classified as NEET, meaning they are not in employment, education, or training.
According to the Office of National Statistics, almost one million young people across the country are classified as NEET.
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