Abbey says 10% would fail personal finance exam
August 23, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
Research by Abbey Current Accounts released today reveals that 4.7 million British adults – around one-tenth of the total – would score less than 40 per cent in a simple financial exam.
On the day in which Britain’s 16-year-olds recorded record GCSE results, this group would achieve less than a grade C if the Abbey exam was graded according to GCSE standards.
It was not all bad news, however: 25 per cent of those who sat the exam scored the top “A-star” grade, with 30 per cent gaining an “A”. The remaining 60 per cent gained a “B”.
Commenting on the findings, head of banking at Abbey Steve Shore said: “While most people are in the realms of a GCSE pass, almost five million British adults would fail a simple personal finance exam. Quite worrying given we selected questions that we felt everyone with a bank account should know.
“Abbey certainly welcomes the government’s plans to introduce a much-needed personal finance element into the curriculum. We would also urge anyone who doesn’t understand something on their bank statement to contact their branch or a financial adviser.”
The survey polled 1031 British adults, who were each asked ten financial questions taken from past GCSE papers.
Questions included how long is given for users to pay back a credit card before interest is accrued, and what negative equity is.
