Mum and Dad get a D- for homework

Despite claims that exams are getting easier, a survey has shown that parents struggle to answer GCSE-level questions. Faced with 10 questions based on the curriculum in science, maths, history and geography, they managed to get an average of just two correct answers. The results of the quiz, taken by 500 people with children under 16, suggest that helping teenagers with their homework could be beyond the capabilities of many parents. The parents were asked about subjects including the name of the bars on a synoptic chart (isobars), the total number of degrees in the exterior angles of an octagon (360) and the number of chromosomes in a human cell (46). If you're a parent with school-age children, how has the curriculum changed since you were at school? Do you feel confident helping with homework, or does it leave you scratching your head? • This article was amended at 16:10 on 9 March 2010. The original made reference to the angles of an octagon – it should have specified " exterior angles ". This is now been corrected. D- for us