Background: Underachievement among boys and particular ethnic groups is a major challenge to the education system. Purpose: This paper reports on one local education authority's attempts to address this concern by investigating the characteristics of its schools demonstrating success with the groups causing most concern: black Caribbean, black African and white UK-born boys. Sample, design and methods: Multi-level modelling was used to identify three primary and three secondary schools producing results above expectation. Visits were made to each school to explore the reasons for success by interviews with headteachers, teachers and pupils. Results: A number of factors were identified, which were similar to earlier research on effective schools. Conclusions: Schools generally subscribed to an approach that stressed inclusivity and overall school effectiveness, rather than the targeting of specific groups, but the nature of schools' approaches was influenced by the relative proportions of boys from different ethnic heritages. (Contains 2 figures.)