Only 1% of teachers in the UK believe their students have adequate financial skills, Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found.

Research sponsored by Santander UK revealed that 81% of teachers believe the biggest barriers to integrating financial education into the curriculum is a lack of time, with resources (43%) and lack of expertise (37%) also being cited.

In SMF’s latest report, Investing in the Future, the group stated that children are exposed to money much earlier in today’s digital world, with attitudes to money developing as early as the age of seven.

Despite this, financial education is only compulsory at secondary school level in England, with the SMF and Santander calling for financial education to be introduced at an earlier age, becoming statutory in primary schools.

Chief executive officer at Santander UK, Mike Regnier, said: "We are proud to be launching this report today in partnership with the SMF, providing new insight into and recommendations on the importance and practical delivery of financial education.

"There is strong evidence of the need for better financial education – we know that over two thirds of people believe better financial education would have helped them manage their money with the increases in the cost of living. It’s clear that while progress has been made in the UK, there is still more to be done."

Santander has been working with educational publishing house, Twinkl, since 2020 to tackle some of these barriers, including offering free, curriculum-friendly learning materials to schools.

Through The Numbers Game campaign, fronted by TV personalities, Ant and Dec, over two and half million five to 16 year olds, 100,000 educators and 8,300 schools have used these resources since 2022.

CEO at Twinkl, Jonathan Seaton, added: "Teachers often talk to me about the need for more financial education provision and support within the classroom. I see this report as a pivotal moment in emphasising the need to empower educators to equip the next generation with these essential life skills.

"Through Twinkl’s partnership with Santander on The Numbers Game it has enabled us to explore several innovative avenues to provide these skills."

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