Financial Literacy Tests, Evaluations, & Tools to Enhance the Program Experience

High-quality financial education programmes are designed to deliver measurable improvements in people’s financial wellbeing. To demonstrate genuine impact, programmes must assess more than knowledge alone – they should evaluate how learning influences attitudes, behaviours, systems, and real-life outcomes. Financial education assessments provide educators and organisations across the UK with structured tools to monitor learner progress and evidence meaningful programme outcomes.

Equally important is creating a positive and engaging learning experience. Successful programmes require careful planning, professional delivery, and ongoing support that reinforces learning and encourages lasting behavioural change. The NFEC offers a comprehensive suite of customisable resources – from planning checklists and facilitation tools to impact measurement systems and reinforcement materials – helping educators across the UK deliver consistent, high-quality financial education programmes with confidence.

Financial Education Exam & Evaluations

The ultimate aim of any financial education programme is to deliver measurable, real world outcomes that support learners well beyond the classroom. To ensure that your teaching leads to lasting impact, it’s essential to track progress across several dimensions. These dimensions help you evaluate not only what participants understand, but also how confident they feel, how they behave, and how they apply their learning in everyday financial decisions.

The NFEC’s comprehensive assessment bank and reporting toolkit enables you to demonstrate genuine programme impact – not just knowledge recall. Fully customisable, mapped to key competencies, and ready for audit or inspection, these tools measure learning across multiple dimensions, giving stakeholders clear evidence of how your instruction improves real lives.

You’ll have access to ten customisable assessments – representing hundreds of questions across the full assessment bank – designed to capture learner attitudes, behaviours, systems, and long term outcomes. These assessments include targeted measures across the following areas:

Behaviors

Observable actions that support their journey to becoming effective stewards of their finances.

Systems

The routines, tools, or structures they’ve developed to support their personal finance management.

Stage of Change

Their readiness and willingness to apply what they’ve learned.

Sentiment

Their feelings, confidence, and mindset toward applying what they learned in the lessons.

Learning Style Survey

Measure how learners prefer to receive, process, and engage with information.

Interest

Their level of engagement and motivation to learn the subject matter.

Content Knowledge

What learners understand about teaching personal finance topics. (Available with curriculum only.)

Support

The networks, resources, or people they access to help them succeed.

Actions

Specific steps learners take as a direct result of the training.

Outcomes

Real-world impact and measurable results stemming from their learning experience.

Case Study Report Template

A professional tool to document your program’s success and showcase outcomes to funders, employers, and community partners.

Resources to Streamline the User Experience

Running a high-quality financial education programme takes more than excellent content – it requires careful planning, skilled delivery, and meaningful follow-up that helps turn learning into lasting changes in behaviour. To support you in delivering a best-in-class experience, we’ve developed a comprehensive suite of resources to guide you from programme planning and preparation through to delivery and ongoing reinforcement. These tools are designed to reduce preparation time, maintain consistent quality across facilitators and locations, and ensure that every session reflects professional standards with clearly defined learning outcomes.

Everything can be tailored to reflect your organisation, audience, and objectives – from registration processes and facilitator guidance to impact measurement systems and ongoing learner engagement resources. This flexibility enables you to create a seamless, professional experience that aligns with your brand and programme goals.

Our comprehensive support package allows you to focus on what matters most: delivering engaging learning experiences that help participants build financial capability, strengthen positive financial behaviours, and improve long-term financial wellbeing.

Pre-programming

Preparation checklists, pre-participant surveys, registration workflows, and email templates to build anticipation and set the tone.

Implementation

Professional banners, event handouts, measurement tools, and facilitation checklists to ensure smooth, impactful delivery.

Post-programming

Recognition templates, outcome measurement systems, and ongoing education materials to reinforce learning and strengthen long-term outcomes.

United Kingdom (UK)

Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), UK Adult Financial Capability Survey, 2018 (published 2019)

Country: United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)

Purpose: National assessment of adult financial capability, behaviours, attitudes, confidence, and financial wellbeing. Conducted as part of the UK Financial Capability Strategy.

Key results:

  • Only 47% of adults reported keeping up with bills and credit commitments without difficulty.
  • 52% of adults displayed one or more characteristics of financial vulnerability.
  • Around 28% had less than £100 in savings.
  • Financial capability varied significantly by age, income, and employment status.
  • Survey measured budgeting, planning ahead, saving, confidence, financial numeracy, and resilience.

United Kingdom

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Financial Lives Survey, 2024 (fieldwork May 2024)

Country: United Kingdom

Purpose: Large-scale national survey measuring financial capability, confidence, resilience, product knowledge, and financial behaviours among UK adults.

Key results:

  • 5 million adults (12%) had low financial capability, defined by low confidence or knowledge of financial matters.
  • Around 21% of adults had less than £1,000 in savings to draw on in an emergency.
  • 10% had no cash savings at all.
  • Capability measures included confidence in money management, understanding financial products, and consumer decision-making.

England, Wales, and Northern Ireland / OECD (PISA Financial Literacy)

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Financial Literacy Assessment, 2022

Country: England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Purpose: International standardized assessment of 15-year-olds’ financial literacy knowledge and application skills. Administered by OECD with education authorities.

Key results:

  • England scored above the OECD average in financial literacy.
  • Students generally performed better at understanding spending, saving, budgeting, and financial risk than OECD peers.
  • Socioeconomic background strongly influenced performance.
  • Students with bank accounts and discussions about money at home tended to perform better.

United Kingdom

OECD/INFE International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy Competencies, 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Purpose: Cross-country survey measuring adult financial knowledge, financial behaviour, and financial attitudes using the OECD/INFE methodology.

Key results:

  • UK adults scored above the OECD average overall for financial literacy.
  • Strong performance in day-to-day financial management and awareness of financial products.
  • Gaps remained in long-term planning, investment understanding, and retirement preparedness.
  • Survey uses a composite financial literacy score covering knowledge, behaviour, and attitudes.

United Kingdom

Kempson, Finney & Poppe (University of Bristol / OECD-aligned methodology), Financial Capability Evidence Review, 2017–2019

Country: United Kingdom

Purpose: Academic and policy research underpinning UK financial capability measurement frameworks used by MaPS and policymakers.

Key results:

  • Financial capability is best measured across knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence, and behaviour rather than knowledge alone.
  • Strong links identified between financial capability and financial wellbeing outcomes.
  • Behavioural measures (saving, planning, budgeting) predicted resilience more strongly than factual knowledge tests alone.

United Kingdom

Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), MoneyView UK Financial Wellbeing Survey, 2025/2026

Country: United Kingdom

Purpose: National survey of financial wellbeing, confidence, inclusion, resilience, and money management among adults. While broader than a pure literacy test, it includes measures of financial confidence and capability.

Key results:

  • Survey of 12,000+ UK adults.
  • Tracks financial confidence, resilience, debt management, saving, and retirement preparedness.
  • Used for national benchmarking and policy planning.