CHILDREN from Scotland's immigrant communities have overtaken the indigenous white population in academic attainment for the first time, according to a new government report.

The study reveals that exam results of pupils with Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese parents are now better than those with parents of Scots descent.

The highest-achieving group of pupils are those from the Chinese community, who last year achieved 30% better grades than their white counterparts in S4. Indian pupils achieved 14% higher scores, while mixed-race pupils did 11% better. White children have also been overtaken by Bangladeshi children, who did 10% better last year (compared with 7% worse five years ago), and by Pakistani children, who did 1% better, compared with 4% worse in 2003.

The report revealed that Chinese pupils from poor families do better, on average, than white children from more affluent homes. Educationalists believe a key factor in the growing success of children from immigrant communities is the support and encouragement they receive from their parents.

“There's a very important message in these statistics, which is all about the importance of parental support,” said Murdo Fraser, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

“Families from ethnic minority backgrounds tend to value education highly and are extremely supportive of their children, such as helping with homework, taking an interest in what's happening at school and attending parents' evenings. That level of support is clearly delivering better results for their children. Perhaps the socioeconomic background of the child is less a factor than parental support.”

Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said too many white parents and their children had to regain a work ethic. “Children from ethnic-minority families settle down and work harder than indigenous ones; their families value good education. But we have a culture in which people aren't willing to put the effort in unless there is instant gratification.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “We are committed to raising attainment levels for all pupils.”

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