Almost a third of UK parents have concerns that their children will fall behind on school during the pandemic, due to having little confidence in being able to teach them themselves, according to a study by telecoms provider BT.

The survey was realised along with BT’s new Code a Cake initiative, which aims to provide online resources to introduce children to coding. Many organisations, such as the BBC and the Dyson Foundation have provided online teaching resources for STEM subjects.

The study was based on a survey of over 2,000 parents of children aged between 5 to 11 years-old in the UK and revealed that while 66 per cent of parents say homeschooling their children and their education takes priority over their jobs, they could only manage to dedicate around three hours a day to teaching.

Amongst the subjects that fare the worst, computer sciences, and in particular areas such as coding, were the most likely to be neglected, as parents are worried they do not understand them, or they were not taught them when they were at school.

Less than a quarter of those surveyed felt comfortable teaching IT and computer science, and only eight per cent felt competent enough to teach coding.

As a comparison, 62 per cent of parents are comfortable teaching mathematics, 58 per cent were happy with English, and 43 per cent in PE.

Kerensa Jennings, digital impact Director, BT, said: “With the UK facing such extraordinary hardship, BT wants Code a Cake to play a small, yet important role in inspiring and supporting parents and children at this challenging time. Families need more help than ever as they try to keep their kids educated and entertained at home.”

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