Almost three in 10 children do not know the Nativity story comes from the Bible, while many others do not identify Adam and Eve or Noah's Ark as religious tales, research shows.

A report by the Bible Society, based on surveys of about 800 eight to 15-year-olds and about 1100 parents, found 29% of children did not think the Nativity came from the Bible. One in five (20%) did not pick Noah's Ark as a Bible story and a similar proportion (19%) did not choose Adam and Eve.

More than a third of the youngsters questioned (36%) did not select the Good Samaritan as coming from the Bible, while two in five (41%) did not identify David and Goliath as a religious story. Nearly 43% had never read, seen or heard of the Crucifixion.

The Society published the research to mark the launch of its Pass It On campaign, which aims to encourage parents to keep the Bible alive by passing on its stories to their children.