Summary

Patterns of ethnic segregation are affected by demographic processes changing the number of each ethnic group living and going to school in a particular area. Notably, the White British formed a smaller proportion of the secondary school aged population in England in 2017 than they did in 2010 because of a decline in the number of White British pupils against a rise in the number of other ethnic groups, except Black Caribbeans. However, nationally the number of White British (but not Black Caribbeans) in primary schools has increased. There are geographical variations in the extent of these changes, with places like Harrow, Redbridge, Newham and Luton seeing greatest percentage declines in their number of White British primary pupils. Nevertheless, many local authorities appear either to be ethnically diverse or are becoming more so.

Introduction

Chapter 1 mentioned the effect of demographic changes on measures of segregation over time. Because children usually live with one or more parent and because ‘minority’ groups are, on average, younger than the White British, what may appear to be increasing segregation could more simply be a reflection of (ethnic minority) families raising children, which creates an increase in the number of that group within particular schools and neighbourhoods (prior to those children leaving home and dispersing geographically). The slight increase in residential ethnic segregation between the 1991 and the 2001 UK censuses, for example, which itself is disputed (Farley and Blackman, 2014), can be attributed to demographic change and to the different age structures of the various groups, subsequently declining to 2011 and, we anticipate, beyond.

This chapter looks at how and where changes to the ethnic composition of the school-age population have occurred over the period from 2010 to 2017 in English state schools. It provides the demographic context in which interpretation of any changing patterns of segregation need to be situated.

About the data

The data we are using in this chapter and the next are publicly available from www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-schooland-pupil-numbers. Of specific interest are the local authority tables, which provide counts of pupils and their characteristics.