White British schoolchildren are now a minority in parts of England, and make up just one in ten pupils in some areas, according to new government figures.
The data from the Department for Children, Schools and Families reveals the extraordinary demographic changes that are taking place in 21st-century England and highlight dramatic variations in the ethnic make-up of the school population across England.
They also show that more than one in ten pupils in primary and secondary schools in England do not have English as their mother tongue. This rises to more than half of primary pupils (53 per cent) in Central London.
As the numbers of nonwhite and non-native-speaking pupils are much higher in primary than in secondary schools, the figures also suggest that the full extent of current demographic changes in England’s schools have yet to make themselves felt.
Damian Green, the Conservative immigration spokesman, said that the changes were putting an extra burden on teachers. What was important, he said, was whether or not these children arrived in school able to speak English.
“If they can’t, and they are being taught in overcrowded classrooms, this makes it much harder for teachers to do their job.”