White British boys in Waltham Forest are performing worse at school than any other demographic, according to a new report.

Figures on educational attainment released this week by Waltham Forest Council show white boys in the borough receiving free school meals are awarded the worst GCSE results of any group.

White boys are closely followed by black Caribbean boys on free school meals and mixed race boys being given free school meals, who are also performing below average overall.

The report found white boys in the borough are achieving at close to the national average at primary school, but are falling behind their peers once they move on to secondary school.

Black boys receiving free school meals were the worst performing group at Key Stage 2, while mixed race boys not using free school meals were the highest attaining primary pupils.

The report said: “Overall standards across the borough remain high.

"Although there are achievement gaps between boys and girls and pupils with free school meals, these are much smaller than those seen nationally.

“However, there are some small areas of underperformance.

“These are all contained within groups that are subject to multiple factors affecting their educational progress.”

Meanwhile, girls dominated the groups most likely to score impressive results at GCSE level.

The highest performing demographic were white British girls who do not claim free school meals, while Asian girls and mixed race girls not receiving free meals also achieved top results on average.