Parents struggle to answer typical GCSE questions

10 Mar 2010

Less than one in five adults managed to correctly answer questions typically asked to their children as part of the GCSE curriculum.

Parents believing they could answer the majority of the GCSE questions posed to their children may struggle to do so, new research has suggested.

A poll of 500 parents for Britannia Online found that only 19.7 per cent were able to provide the correct answers to questions taken from maths, science, history and geography.

The survey discovered that adults in the north of the country may have the most difficulty in passing a GCSE qualification as only 11.2 per cent provided the right responses, in comparison to 31.7 per cent of parents in East Anglia.

Meanwhile, it was discovered that men may be more likely to pass than women if they decided to return to education.

Among the questions asked were who was the first Labour prime minister and the name given to the lines on a synoptic chart.

Ian Grant, managing director of Encyclopaedia Britannica (UK) Ltd, said: "We know that many parents are keen to help their children with their homework, but they might not be as helpful as they wish to be.

"The content of the national curriculum has changed over the years so parents may be less familiar with some of the subjects now being studied."

Parents considering studying for a GCSE have the choice between 40 academic subjects and there is also the option of sitting some as short courses.

Posted by Caroline Eades