LFBF Publishes Landmark New Research into Effectiveness of UK Financial Education
January 29th, 2025
The London Foundation for Banking & Finance (LFBF) has today published a landmark new study of financial education in the UK.
Entitled ‘Accelerating Progress: Financial Capability in the UK’, the report examines what is working and makes five key recommendations as to what more could be done to accelerate progress. It also highlights key challenges around the volume, quality, and accessibility of financial literacy programmes.
The research was conducted by Sarah Dryden (pictured), Director of Research at the LFBF, working in partnership with Paul Palmer, Professor of Voluntary Sector Management at Bayes Business School.
The report is distinguished by its mapping and assessment of the support currently on offer. The initial analysis included a market scan of 2,000 organisations, with the research then categorising the work of more than 400 bodies.
In its findings, the report highlights a number of key challenges:
- UK financial literacy remains persistently low in UK-focused and international studies.
- 39% of UK adults (c 20.3 million people) do not feel confident managing money.
- The UK has significant gender, education, income and racial / ethnic gaps in financial literacy, with gaps of up to 45% when demographic factors intersect.
- Millennials possess lower financial literacy than might be expected, and both the young and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the risks of financial illiteracy.
- Financial education support is hard to find, reputable education hard to assess; multiple initiatives overlap.
The report also makes five key recommendations about how to accelerate progress:
- Impact requires scale, but tailoring programmes is equally critical.
- Interventions need to be early, but also relevant to individual circumstances and life stages.
- Making better use of technology and innovative learning practices such as experiential learning and gamification could have a positive impact.
- People need both the ability (education) and the opportunity to act (inclusion).
- There is significant potential for better partnership and consolidation across existing services.
Sarah Dryden, Director of Research at the LFBF and the report’s lead author comments: “While the amount of financial education might be encouraging, it is also concerning. Persistently low levels of financial literacy across the UK make clear that even effective interventions from reputable providers are not working sufficiently well, nor together, to move the dial far or fast enough. Even as a professional researcher, simply finding, let alone understanding or applying, high quality information is a challenge.”
Professor Paul Palmer adds: “Education is one of the founding principles of charity. This timely and authoritative report on financial literacy from LFBF identifies key issues facing the UK and how the voluntary sector can assist in resolving them. The Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Bayes, as an enabler and capacity builder for the sector, was delighted to support this research.”
Shelley Doorey-Williams, Chief Executive of the LFBF comments: “Everyone should have the opportunity to understand money, and be able to address their financial needs through inclusive financial services and products. The LFBF has a proud 145 year history of raising awareness of and education in finance, and an ambitious vision for supporting financial capability across the UK. We are committed to providing the evidence that will help to accelerate progress, and we are hugely appreciative of the rigour of the research conducted by Sarah, the excellent guidance provided by Professor Paul Palmer and the much-valued support of Bayes’ Centre for Charity Effectiveness.” ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Download ‘Accelerating Progress: Financial Capability in the UK – Research Report 2025‘ here.
- The London Foundation for Banking & Finance (LFBF) was established in 1879 as the Institute of Bankers by a group of City of London workers. It is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter. Its charitable objective is the advancement of knowledge of and education in financial services and to carry out and publish useful research for the benefit of the public. It also has the power to confer Chartered status on senior figures in finance. Its published research includes the highly-regarded annual national study of young people’s understanding of finance: The Young Person’s Money Index.
- Sarah Dryden is Director of Research at The London Foundation for Banking & Finance, an expert in financial services and an alumna of Bayes Business School’s Centre for Charity Effectiveness.
- Paul Palmer is a management educationalist and Professor of Voluntary Sector Management at Bayes Business School. The Centre for Charity Effectiveness (CCE) at Bayes Business School is a leading nonprofit and philanthropy centre in the UK. Since 2004, the centre has been committed to empowering and supporting charitable organisations and their current and future leaders.
- Shelley Doorey-Williams is the Chief Executive of The London Foundation for Banking & Finance. Previously a Partner in KPMG’s Wealth and Asset Management practice, she has over 25 years’ cross-industry experience in business management and corporate governance, half of which were within the financial services and banking sector as a Managing Director at UBS. After UBS, Shelley worked for global financial services consulting firm Sionic, where she was shortlisted for the 2021 City Wealth Woman of the Year Award for her outstanding work on governance and diversity.