Ahead of National Financial Awareness Day on August 14th, new research from Mojo Mortgages has exposed a stark deficiency in the UK curriculum, with 79% of first-time buyers believing the education system completely failed to prepare them for the complex realities of securing a mortgage and navigating home ownership.
The overwhelming majority of people entering the property market feel left to fend for themselves, with the gap in basic financial education becoming increasingly severe for the younger generation. 86% of first-time buyers between 18-24 years stated they felt ill-prepared by their schooling, suggesting that instead of improving, financial education in schools has actually fallen further behind the fast-evolving property landscape.
At a regional level, Wales, the South West and Scotland emerged as the top three regions in the UK where first-time buyers voted most strongly that their ‘education failed to prepare them for the reality of mortgages, interest rates, and home ownership’.
At a city level, Plymouth’s first time buyers surveyed recorded the highest percentage of residents (100%) nationwide who strongly agree that the school system left them unprepared for the reality of mortgages, interest rates and home ownership. This was closely followed by Liverpool’s first-time buyers surveyed (96%) and Edinburgh (90%).
The survey also revealed an interesting gap between genders, with nearly 45% of women strongly agreeing with the statement compared to 37% of men.
Last year, the government announced that financial education will become compulsory across all primary and secondary schools in England from 2028, as part of a wider curriculum reform aimed at improving life skills.
Kayleigh Jackson, mortgages sales manager at Mojo Mortgages, commented: "Buying a home and securing your first mortgage is one of the most significant financial milestones in a person's life, yet our data shows that the vast majority of the UK population feels completely unequipped by their formal education. Financial literacy shouldn't just be learned through trial and error when you're already in the middle of house hunting.
"We have clearly seen that the school system isn't getting through to the younger generation, which means more needs to be done to give them the tools to get on the property ladder confidently."
