Children in London make more progress on average than those in other parts of the country - and new analysis reveals that the difference is particularly stark for Pakistani pupils.

Researchers Natasha Plaister and Dave Thomson, from Education Datalab, looked at key stage 4 progress scores in London and the rest of England, comparing different groups of Asian students, and other ethnic groups.

They found that, for all of these groups, progress in London was higher than in the rest of England, but the difference was much larger for students from a Pakistani background.

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The researchers looked at whether the difference could be down to Pakistani students in London being less likely to be disadvantaged than those in other parts of the country.

Pupil progress in London

They found that Pakistani students in London tended to live in slightly less deprived areas than those living elsewhere, whereas the opposite was true for the other groups.

But, even controlling for demographic factors, Pakistani students “still seem to be more susceptible to the London effect than students from other ethnic groups”, the researchers found.

They noted that recent immigrants typically showed high rates of progress, and omitted these children from the data to see what effect this had.

There was still “an extra-strong London effect for Pakistani students”, found the researchers, who concluded that the reason for the trend remained unknown.