Schools with lots of immigrants perform better, say statistics

The diverse make-up of pupils in London's schools is the reason the capital outperforms other parts of the country in academic attainment, it has been claimed.

There is a "London-premium" on what Simon Burgess, professor of economics at the University of Bristol, calls "pupil progress" - effectively this is a measure of how a pupil improves their grades between Key Stage 2 (11-years-old) and their GCSEs (16-years-old).

Writing for The Conversation, Prof Burgess explains that the "higher pupil aspiration, ambition, and engagement among migrants" in London's schools is the reason for their success.

While he explains that there is "nothing inherently different" about children from migrant families, their social situation is likely to make them more ambitious.

Children of relatively recent immigrants typically have greater hopes and expectations of education, and are, on average, more likely to be engaged with their school work.

• Professor Simon Burgess

Using a statistical model to highlight this "London effect" Prof Burgess found that pupils in the capital jumped on average eight grades compared to schools across the rest of the country, i.e. from B at KS2 to A at GCSE in eight subjects. When ethnic diversity was removed as a control, this effect was diminished.

Sustaining a large, successful and reasonably integrated multi-ethnic school system containing pupils from every country in the world and speaking more than 300 languages is a great thing. To my mind, this is what we should be celebrating about the London education system.

• Professor Simon Burgess

Read Professor Burgess' full findings here

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