More than a quarter of British children say they do not have a role model they look up to in life, a new study has found.

Researchers asked 1,000 children aged 10 to 16 who they turned to for advice on things like their future career, school work or the pressures of fitting in. 

Nearly half said that they turn to YouTube for life advice rather than their teachers or parents.  Even when it came to advice about their future career path, 37 per cent said they had tried to contact a celebrity directly for help. 

Only a few – less than one-fifth – were able to name two or more engineers, mathematicians or scientists.

As part of the study commissioned by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), researchers also polled 1,000 parents and found that nearly half did not know who their children's role models were.

More than half expressed concern about their children looking up to reality stars and celebrities.  

David Lakin, head of education at the IET, said: 'It's worrying children are turning to celebrities and influencers for credible careers advice, rather than industry role models.' 

He added: 'These results show that social media is playing a huge role in shaping the future of children's career aspirations and choices.'

A 2015 survey of parents revealed similar concerns about celebrities being the role models of today's children. 

In the poll of over 2,000 parents, Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj came out on top as the worst role models for children, while the Duchess of Cambridge was the favourite of parents.