Recent studies have suggested that academic attainment by ethnic minority graduates at UK institutions of higher education is lower than that by White graduates. This was confirmed using a database of all UK-domiciled graduates from UK higher education institutions in 2004-05. The trend was greater in older students than in younger students, in women than in men, in part-time students than in full-time students, and in some subjects and at some institutions than others. It was only partly explained by variations in the students' qualifications on entry into higher education. The available evidence suggests that these quantitative variations in academic attainment are not reflected in concomitant qualitative variations in the experience of higher education among students from different ethnic groups. It is premature to consider widening participation in terms of access to higher education until this is matched by parity in terms of educational outcomes. (Contains 8 tables.)