More than two-thirds of parents say home-schooling in the latest lockdown “went well”, according to a new Ipsos MORI poll.

Just over half of parents (52 per cent) said home-schooling went “fairly well” and 15 per cent said it went “very well”.

But the research also shows that parents with lower incomes, as well as those living in more deprived areas and those with three children or more, were more likely to say the experience wasn’t good.

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The poll, which was carried out online at the start of March, also reveals that most parents prefer wellbeing support and extra tutoring over extended school days and shorter holidays as ways to help their children catch up after lockdown.

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And it suggests that more parents were getting to grips with the demands of home-schooling in the second lockdown compared with the first lockdown, when a survey by the Office for National Statistics showed that 52 per cent of parents thought their child had struggled to continue learning after schools closed.

However, the latest survey shows that 39 per cent of parents in areas in the country’s two most deprived quintiles struggled with home-schooling compared with 26 per cent in the areas in the most affluent quintiles.

It also reveals how 34 per cent of poorer parents (earning less than £31,200) said home-schooling went “not very well” or “not at all well” compared with 22 per cent of parents with salaries of more than £75,000 who said this.

Kelly Beaver, managing director of public affairs at Ipsos MORI, said: “It’s clear that while many parents have done their best with home-schooling during the latest lockdown, it’s been a challenge for a significant proportion, especially those living in more deprived areas.”

The poll was responded to by 520 parents who were a representative sample of home-schooling parents across the UK.

It shows how 36 per cent of parents with three or more children said home-schooling went “not very well” or “not at all well”.

This contrasts with 27 per cent of parents with two children who said this, and 32 per cent of parents with one child.