People's financial knowledge 'getting worse'

20/08/2008

Britons' basic financial literacy is on the wane, new tests have suggested.

Abbey Banking gave a group of 1,000 adults a basic GCSE-style "exam" on personal finances recently - and found that the number of people getting top marks had declined over the past year.

Just 28 per cent got an A grade in the test, compared with 30 per cent in 2007.

Moreover, one in five failed to get 40 per cent of answers right, earning less than a C - up from one in seven last year.

Steve Shore, Abbey Banking's director, commented: "While most people are in the realms of a GCSE pass, the failure rate has increased by over one million.

"[This is] quite worrying given that the credit crunch and cost of living has dominated the front pages for the past 12 months - and people say that they are more interested in understanding their finance than ever before."

Tags; Current UK Economy, Income Worries and Debt,

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