Students in Britain taking their final exams during big football events, are more likely to get bad marks.

A study of exam results showed that while games like the FIFA World Cup or European Championship were on, students tended to put less effort in and get worse results than those who took their exams in years without major tournaments.

The effect varied according to students' interest in the game but affected both male and female students. On average, those most affected were boys and disadvantaged students.