Parents offer rewards as incentive for good exam results

Updated

More than four in five parents with children taking exams this year are offering rewards to their offspring such as cash, holidays and gadgets, a survey has found.

Some 83% of parents with children taking exams this year are putting up some sort of incentive for them to do well, according to VoucherCodes.co.uk.

The average total amount parents expect to spend on rewards for their child's hard work is £239, with parents saying they plan to reward their children with gifts of cash, days out, money towards the school prom, games consoles, laptops, tablets and money towards a car.

The research also suggests that boys sitting their exams can expect to get higher cash payouts this summer than girls.

Parents of boys taking exams have offered their child £126 in cash typically, while parents of girls have put up a cash reward of £98 for good grades.

Looking at the array of perks parents are offering their children, on average, those offering a meal out plan to spend £69, those offering a day out plan to spend £92, those forking out for a holiday plan to pay £270, those planning to set their child up with a new mobile phone plan to spend £197, while those paying for a games console plan to spend £198 and those sending their child to the school prom plan to fork out £94.

One in seven (14%) parents said their child is already trying to negotiate a bigger payout, with many also saying their child is trying to sweeten the deal by improving their behaviour, such as by offering to make them cups of tea.

More than one third (35%) of parents also plan to vary the level of reward according to how well their child does in their exams.

Young people sitting A-levels are more likely to be rewarded with "bigger ticket" items such as money towards a car or a computer as they prepare to head off to university, the research found.

On average, parents planning to offer money towards a car expect to make a contribution of £350. Parents offering money towards a laptop or computer plan to spend £286, while those spending on a tablet expect to pay £203 on average.

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