Pupils hoping that parents will never find out about bad marks for homework or spelling test disasters could be caught out by an online system from the United States.

Schools and parents have been testing software which gives parents access to confidential details of their children's academic progress.

Using an internet site and password, parents can view details of grades and test scores, missed lessons, homework assignments and daily timetables - or whatever schools decide to make available.

The internet service - ThinkWave.com - claims that it has 460,000 registered users in 7,600 schools, with the free software being funded by advertising.

"The days of mom not knowing what goes on in French class are over,'' said Cynthia Banner, whose son attends Menchville High School in Newport News, Virginia.

"I can find out what grades he has, whether he went to class, what he did and whether he turned in the last three assignments."

As well as providing a monitoring service on pupil performance, there have been claims that the service is encouraging a more interactive relationship between parents and teachers.

Parents concerned about their children's progress have e-mailed teachers for more information and have developed a much closer working relationship than the annual encounter at parents' evenings.

At a school district in Bellwood, Pennsylvania, teachers reported an improved atmosphere in parent-teacher meetings.

"When parents come into conferences, there was a notable difference in the stress level. Now, everyone knows how well their child is doing - the discussion is over what to do about it,'' said teacher Michael Lingenfelter.