Introduction: There has been a recent increase in interest in research into the emotional and behavioural needs of children and adolescents with intellectual disability. The field has tended to focus on the association between emotional and behavioural needs and child characteristics. Little attention has been paid to the potential importance of social context. Method: Cross-sectional survey of teacher-reported emotional and behavioural needs among 386 South Asian children and 118 Black children in a deprived urban conurbation. Results: The results suggested that: (i) teachers reported higher rates of emotional and behavioural needs among Black (when compared with South Asian) children; (ii) increased rates of emotional and behavioural needs were generally associated with older child age, lower child ability, the absence of sensory impairments and male gender; and (iii) neighbourhood deprivation was associated with variation in emotional and behavioural need differently for the two ethnic groups. For Black children, increased deprivation was associated with increased need. However, for South Asian children increased deprivation was associated with decreased need. Discussion: Results are discussed in relation to "group density effects" which may reflect the potentially moderating effects of social support on the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and mental health.