The pressure on children to succeed at school is having consequences for their parents - with a survey claiming that parents are clocking up an average of seven hours of homework a week.

These long hours of helping children with homework are often greater than the hours expected of the children themselves.

And despite their willingness to help, many parents in the survey reported that they struggled to assist their children - particularly in subjects such as maths and science.

The survey, conducted for the educational website learnfree.co.uk, also found that parents and children are increasingly using the internet to help with homework.

According to the survey of 1,200 parents, one in three children have used the internet for homework.

Parents were found in the survey to approve of this online assistance - with four out of five parents saying that using the internet for school was a good thing and not just a short cut to answers.

It was also agreed by parents that the amount of homework given to pupils was now greater than in their day.

According to the government's guidelines for homework, in primary schools, pupils aged five and six should be studying for one hour a week, rising to 30 minutes a day for 11 year olds.

In secondary school, pupils of 12 to 13 should be studying from 45 to 90 minutes a day; 14 year olds should study from 1 to 2 hours a day and 15 to 16 year olds should study 1.5 to 2.5 hours a day.