Research from Professor Simon Burgess from the University of Bristol has led him to uncover a shocking explanation in the sharp rise of attainment levels when black people get to GCSEs. He believes it is because they are marked by independent examiners.

"When we take GCSEs, they are marked outside of school and not by your teacher. So that’s your big chance to show how well you can really do in an anonymous context.

"We looked at some data comparing the test scores of pupils in England against their teachers. In some ethnic groups, we found that the teachers systematically underestimated their performance relative to how they did in these remotely marked tests. And that suggests theirs some stereotyping going on that teachers have a former view of the likely capability of students from outside knowledge and that informs the expectations of students in the classroom.

"The stereotype view is that black students are not very good at school and so they tend to under-asses them and have lower expectations for their attainment and progress then perhaps they should. And these stereotypes will interact with a child’s motivation and they will try less in school."