Parents bribing children over GCSE results

Emma Finamore
30 May 2017

Research shows that parents are offering hundreds of pounds worth of bribes to encourage their children to do well in their GCSEs.

Placeholder — 55% of parents planning on bribing their children with a financial reward

Research released today by VoucherCodes.co.uk, shows that parents are gearing up to spend an average of £205 in gifts; a slight reduction on last year’s average of £239 but still nearly double the average amount (£104) gifted to children in 2015.

The poll of 2,000 parents nationwide found that the top incentive offered by parents is cold hard cash, with 55% of parents planning on bribing their children with a financial reward. Over one third (35%) of parents are planning to celebrate with a lavish meal out, while 14% are set to treat their hard-working kids to a day out including trips to the seaside or a theme park.

Meanwhile, a small but significant proportion of parents are willing to splash out on much bigger purchases; one in eleven are planning on gifting a laptop or a computer (9%), 5% will treat their kids to a holiday and two % will even contribute to the cost of a new car.

According to the VoucherCodes.co.uk research, for most parents, the value of rewards children can expect to receive differs dramatically according to their grades, with nearly two thirds of all UK parents (63%) saying they incentivise their children with different amounts for each grade or for a bulk set of results (e.g. five A-Cs).

The poll of 2,000 parents nationwide found that the top incentive offered by parents is cold hard cash, with 55% of parents planning on bribing their children with a financial reward.

A high-scoring student who achieves A grades across the board could look to receive £300 for their hard work, whereas an all B student is likely cash in £200 and a C-grader could net roughly £180. However, the poll also found that some parents are happy to treat their kids regardless of the grades they achieve, with (37 %) of mums and dads saying they’ll reward their children irrespective of their results.

Top 10 popular rewards for good grades

Financial reward (inc. cash, gift cards or vouchers) – £222.55

A nice meal out – £82.23

Money towards school prom – £124.09

A day out (to a theme park, the beach etc.) – £91.26

A laptop or a computer – £287.68

A new mobile phone – £228.17

A holiday – £393.39

A games console – £152.36

A tablet – £265.92

Money towards a new car – £481.96

The most generous parents in the UK are from Wales, who are set to spend a whopping £626.26 on financial rewards – nearly three times more than the national average. This is followed by those in London who will fork out £210.20 to make their children feel special for their achievements.

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