Tech savvy schoolchildren are coming up with ever more elaborate excuses for filing to submit work on time. New research among 1000 teachers suggests the average British teacher now hears 15 different excuses every week, and 70 per cent of teachers noticed an upsurge in the number of pupils blaming technology.

Here are the top five tech-related reasons for not doing homework:

My computer crashed and I lost it;

I finished my homework but then deleted it by accident;

I could not print it out;

My internet was down so I could not do any research;

I lost my laptop.

Worst tech-related excuses:

My dad’s computer was hacked by the Russians and they stole my homework;

A burglar stole my printed-out homework along with the computer;

The PC exploded when our dog went to the toilet on it…

Worst non-tech excuses:

My mum put my homework in the washing machine, and then burnt it as she tried to iron it dry;

The wind blew my homework into a pond, and then a swan ate it;

My brother drove off with my homework in his lorry, and then he lost it in France. ~ Telegraph (UK), Nov 18