Brits suffering “finance literacy” problems

British adults know less about personal finance than a year ago, according to a study released by Abbey.

The bank found one in seven people were unable to achieve a mark of over 40 per cent in a GCSE-level exam on personal finance, to gain the equivalent of a grade C.

Last year’s study, using the same test, found one in ten were unable to achieve a grade C – indicating 1.3 million more adults are ‘financially illiterate’ than in 2007.

The findings were described as “quite worrying” by banking director Steve Shore – and they may suggest debt management problems are around the corner for people who are not familiar with financial issues.

Among other conclusions, the test results indicate 88 per cent of the population do not know they have six weeks to repay credit card debt before interest kicks in, a two per cent rise from last year.

Thousands of students will receive their GCSE results today (Thursday).

By Morwenna Kearns