Financial education charity, the ifs School of Finance, is continuing to lobby the government over its hopes to introduce exam-grade education on personal finance to the national curriculum.

“There are lots of other different financial education programmes being offered in schools, workplaces and online but, as FSA research highlighted last month, there is little or no evidence to suggest it is improving people’s financial capability,” said Phil Hall, Head of Public Affairs for ifs.

Hall went on to explain that there was “an increasing body of evidence to suggest that a standalone, nationally recognised qualification produced financially capable young people.”

This is in marked contrast to the current state of most personal finances in the UK today, where an increasing amount of bad debt was leading people into insolvency, house repossession and years of credit blacklisting.

UK debt currently stands at approximately £1.3 trillion, with most of this accounted for by mortgage debt. However, around £200 billion is owed in unsecured debt on personal loans, store finance, credit cards and overdrafts.

The ifs believe that by adding Personal Finance as a core curriculum subject, fewer people would fall into the debt trap experienced by hundreds of thousands of individuals and families every year.

By teaching individuals the true cost of borrowing and the best way of managing their money, ifs hope that they can help rescue Britain from its position as the Debt Capital of Europe.

At present the average Briton owes over £3000 in unsecured debt, compared with the average European who owes only £1500.