London With GCSE results expected to produce a record crop of A and A* grades, stress levels are also hitting a record high as thousands of exam hopefuls await publication of their results tomorrow. But it may not be the teenagers who are suffering so much as their parents.

A survey by Edge, an education foundation, has found that 48 per cent of parents believe that they are more anxious than their children about the results, with one in ten reporting sleepless nights.

Seventy-eight per cent of parents with boys are worried about the performance of their sons, compared with 72 per cent of parents of girls. Half of parents with boys say that their sons had not enjoyed academic study, compared with 38 per cent of parents who say the same about their daughters.

A quarter of parents said that they stayed up late to help their children and a tenth took time off work.

Andy Powell, the chief executive of Edge, said that parents should not lose sight that an academic education was just one of many paths to success.

Times Recommends

• Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes