Survey Reveals 'Mum's the Word' for Students Awaiting Exam Results

LEEDS, England, August 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Mums are the first port of call for students sharing exam success or heartbreak, a survey of students awaiting their exam results this summer has revealed.

Sixty-one per cent of the 1,003 students across the UK who took part in the survey, commissioned by Leeds Metropolitan University, plan to tell their mum first upon receiving their exam results, whilst only 7% plan to tell their dad first.

Mums also scored highly when it came to giving the most valuable advice on which university to choose with students being twice as likely to head to mum, rather than dad; and mum also being the most influential when giving students career advice.

The survey showed that male students are more positive than female students about receiving their exam results with 84% of male students confident that they will achieve better or the same as their predicted grades: 12% more than their female counterparts. Students living in the London region were the most positive about their results with 83% confident that they will achieve better or the same as their predicted grades, whilst students from the East Midlands were the least positive at 70%.

Results from the survey revealed that 38% of students have been offered financial incentives for succeeding in their exams with 11% being offered a laptop, 11% a car and 10% a holiday.  On average the survey showed that male students are offered more money than female students to perform well.  The average amount offered to male students was £184; £60 more than their female counterparts who were offered on average £124. 

The amount offered by parents as incentives varied dramatically among the respondents, with some students being offered up to £2,000 for an A* and £1,500 for an A grade.  The most frequently offered sum for both an A* and an A was £100, with £50 for a B grade.

Notes for editors: 

• An independent online panel were used to administer the poll, with a short survey being sent to their panel members awaiting their results this summer (2014), with a sample size of 1,003.

For further details please contact Mark Dorey in the Communications team at Leeds Met on +44(0)113-812-3021 or email m.dorey@leedsmet.ac.uk