File on 4 Investigates - Are white working class girls falling behind?

Download Are white working class girls falling behind?

White disadvantaged girls are being overlooked, school leaders are warning. Whilst white working-class boys remain one of the worst performing group in their GCSEs, white girls from low income homes aren’t much further behind them.

File on 4 Investigates has worked with the BBC Data team to compare 2025's GCSE results in England with those of 2019. The team found that white working class girls in England have seen some of the biggest declines in attainment since 2019 - with just 38 percent of these students passing their English and Maths exams. All girls are down by 1.6 percentage points at GCSE but low-income white British girls are down by 6.4 percentage points. Cutting the link between 'background and success' and halving the 'disadvantage gap' is something the Department for Education has pledged to tackle.

In this programme we examine what is behind the decline for this group of girls and meet school leaders who are working to reverse it.

Reporter: Hayley Mortimer
Producer: Ashley Kennedy
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley
Editor: Tara McDermott

Published on Tuesday, 14th April 2026.

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