Analyzes the educational progress of 530,000 pupils in England between age 7 in 2000 and age 11 in 2004. The results show that Black Caribbean boys not entitled to free school meals, and particularly the more able pupils, made significantly less progress than their White British peers. There is no evidence that the gap results from Black Caribbean pupils attending less effective schools. The results suggest the poor progress of Black Caribbean pupils reflects a systemic issue rather than the influence of a small number of "low quality" schools.
