White working-class children are falling behind their peers in all but 21 of the 3,400 schools across the country, shocking official data has revealed.
Under one per cent of more than 3,400 secondary schools across England see such pupils performing as well as their peers.
The proportion of white working-class pupils achieving grades five or above in English and maths GCSE was just 18.6 per cent, substantially below the 45.9 per cent national average.
At secondary school level, white British pupils on free school meals perform around a grade and a half worse in each GCSE subject compared with the national average.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why white working-class children are failing, warning that such pupils were being 'betrayed' and left behind
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White working-class girls have fallen in school attainment at a faster pace than their peers over the past five years.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has launched an inquiry into why white working-class children are failing, warning that such pupils were being "betrayed" and left behind.
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."
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Former home secretary Sir David Blunkett will also sit on the panel, alongside school standards tsar Sir Kevan Collins
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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.
The inquiry has been seen as an attempt to counter Nigel Farage's Reform UK, with critics claiming Labour is only addressing the issue to tackle the political threat.
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
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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."
He added that Phillipson had "axed support for able pupils in mathematics, physics, Latin and computing because she sees them as elitist" and removed behaviour hubs that were improving discipline and standards.
O'Brien noted that school funding formulas still favour urban areas, with the lowest achievement levels now found in shire and coastal areas rather than London.
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