It's a life skill many of us take for granted - one quick glance at a clock and we know exactly what the time is.
For many children though, this is worryingly not the case.
Living in a highly digitalised world means it's becoming increasingly rare to use an analogue clock, and this proving to be problematic in many schools over the UK.
Students under the age of 18 are struggling so much with reading an analogue clock, that they've been replaced by digital ones in exam rooms, The Telegraph reports.
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"The current generation aren't as good at reading the traditional clock face as older generations," Malcolm Trobe a former principal and deputy general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders, said.
"They are used to seeing a digital representation of time on their phone, on their computer. Nearly everything they've got is digital so youngsters are just exposed to time being given digitally everywhere," he added.
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In an exam room setting, where stress and anxiety levels may already be high, analogue clocks have been removed so as not to add to this.
Another advantage of digital clocks is that there's less margin for error, Mr Trobe adds.
However the news that analogue clocks may be being phased out was met with horror on social media, although others felt telling the time "the old fashioned way" was no longer necessary.
