The Department of Education should decide if the Leaving Cert exams are going ahead as planned before the end of January according to almost 90 per cent of parents surveyed by iReach.
The research found 87 per cent of parents of Leaving Cert students felt a firm decision should be made soon so students will know if they are facing written exams or calculated grades.
Three quarters of parents also said their child should be given the option to choose between exams in June or calculated grades.
Students' anxiety was also a major concern, with 82 per cent agreeing their children's stress levels have increased due to the uncertainty surrounding the exams.
The survey which included responses from over 1,000 adults, collected between January 13th and 19th also found that more than half of parents (56 per cent) of Leaving Cert students said their children would prefer written exams to go ahead.
For parents of primary school students, 42 per cent felt schools should only reopen when the reproductive, or R number falls below 1, increasing to 48 per cent among parents of secondary school students.
According to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) Ireland's R number is now estimated to be in the region of 0.5 to 0.8, yet the HSE's chief clinical officer, Dr Colm Henry said the rate of Covid-19 is still too high for schools to reopen.
Talks between the Department of Education and unions are continuing in the hopes of resuming in-person teaching for students with special educational needs.
Unions representing teachers and special needs assistants are outlining their members' safety concerns as transmission rates of the virus remain worryingly high in much of the country, but the Department is arguing schools have always been considered safe, controlled environments by public health experts.
