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A new report says giving children money to pass exams does not help exam grades. Parents could be wasting their money by doing this. Researchers said the promise of a trip somewhere nice could get students to try harder and do better at school. Researchers in England and the USA looked at how promises of cash and days out affected studying and learning. They looked at the test scores of over 10,000 pupils throughout 2012. Many students tried harder in class and did more homework, but this did not help them get better test scores.

The lead researcher said the report looked at the wrong areas. He said it needed to look at the things that got students to work harder. He said: "Some pupils have a lot of [goals] and believe that education is a way of getting what they want out of life, but there are kids who think that working hard doesn't make a difference." He said these children think exam success is because of genes and family background. An education expert said good teachers were more important than money, especially for children from poorer families. He said good teaching makes a big difference.