Immigrant children are more likely to have a positive attitude towards education than their "native" classmates, according to a study.

Researchers suggested that people who emigrate tend to be more aspirational and take risks, and pass their "grit and determination" on to their children.

Academics for the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) used international data on more than 4,500 15 and 16-year-olds at around 200 English schools to examine attitudes to education.

The paper found that first-generation immigrants - those born abroad whose parents were born overseas - were around 60% more positive about education and its benefits than the average "native" student.

Second-generation immigrants - those born in the UK to foreign-born parents - were also more positive, it suggested.

The paper said: "We found that immigrant pupils in England have more positive attitudes to education compared with native students.

"This difference is pervasive and does not depend on particular schools' policies towards these students.

"There is also no sign of any differences between first and second-generation immigrants in this respect."

Professor Simon Burgess, of Bristol's Department of Economics, said: "Our analysis clearly shows that immigrant students have a more positive attitude to education than native students.

"People who emigrate are naturally more aspirational and risk-taking. Such grit and determination is passed from parents to children and we've seen how this then manifests in the school environment."

By Alison Kershaw