The English as An Additional Language Association of Wales (EALAW), says that children from ethnic minority backgrounds are underachieving at every stage during their primary and secondary education.

Its report, published on Wednesday, is the first detailed look at how ethnic minority children perform at school.

There are now calls for more support for the pupils and their families.

EALAW found that children from what it terms Indian backgrounds recorded the highest levels of achievement.

Mustapha Ahmed is studying for nine GCSEs

Chinese, mixed race and eastern European children tended to achieve well but attainment did vary.

Pupils of Bangladeshi origin had higher attainment than Pakistani pupils, but their results were still well below national averages.

There was particular concern about Somali and Yemeni pupils whose performance was the lowest of all the ethnic groups in the survey.

Mustapha Ahmed, 15, is studying for nine GCSEs at Fitzalan High School in Cardiff which has a high proportion of ethnic minority pupils.

He said that overcoming the language barrier was crucial in helping pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds succeed in education.

"I think it (underachievement) is mainly because of the language barrier," he added.

"Somalis find it difficult to get accustomed to the British way of life and I think they don't receive as much help as other people."

Racism

The study also found that almost three quarters of the pupils surveyed had experienced racism.

However, it was more prevalent outside than inside school for most ethnic groups.

EALAW said there was a considerable need to improve the pupils' performance at school.