Black pupils ‘at higher risk of behaviour issues’ label

Pupils from a black Caribbean heritage are more than twice as likely to be identified as having behaviour issues than their UK classmates, a study has found.

It also suggested that children born in the summer are more likely to be found to have moderate learning difficulties than those born in the autumn, at the start of the school year.

The research, conducted by Professor Steve Strand at Warwick University, analysed the backgrounds of pupils aged five to 16 who had been categorised as having special educational needs (SEN) in 2011.

It used data from the official schools census, which contains information on more than six million pupils in England.

The findings show that one in 20 black Caribbean youngsters with this background are categorised as having behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. This is compared to one in 40 white British children, and one in 200 British Chinese students.

The study concluded that there are a number of factors contributing to these pupils being over-represented in this category. Prof Strand said: “There’s two main explanations: one is that they’re more at risk – as a group they experience more socio-economic deprivation and poverty.The other argument is there’s a bias within the education system.”