Are you smarter than a Kiwi celebrity?

A recent poll of 1000 New Zealanders aged 18 and over found "serious gaps in public knowledge", according to the business think tank it was conducted for — so we've put some Kiwi celebrities to the test.

According to the poll, fewer than half of respondents were able to name the seven continents correctly and only 32 per cent knew the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.

The hosts of Hauraki's breakfast show, Matt and Jeremy, were among those who agreed to be quizzed on camera and kicked things off in predictably irreverant style.

"Was Winston Churchill real or fictional?" Jeremy mused.

"He was in Harry Potter wasn't he?" replied Matt. "Wasn't he one of the teachers? Professor Winston McGonagall Churchill."

The Hits' Laura struggled to name the date the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, guessing 1806 but asking "am I way off?" before co-host Toni revealed the real answer.

Meanwhile, Astley and Storm from the Flava breakfast show were keen to prove they knew their stuff, with Astley correctly replying that it took 365 days for the Earth to orbit the sun.

Not to be outdone, Storm added: "If I may — 366 every four years," gaining himself some leap year-knowledge bonus points.

The poll, conducted by landline and cellphone by Curia Market Research for the NZ Initiative, asked 13 questions covering maths, science, history, geography and spelling.

While New Zealand adults were confident on questions about women's suffrage, Winston Churchill and the capital of Australia, they fared less well on maths and science-based questions.

Only 48 per cent could work out how far a car would travel in 45 minutes if it travelled at a constant 40km/h, a question which clearly also stumped ZM host Megan, who gave "Almost a k" as her answer when put on the spot.

Try the quiz and see how many you get right