As millions of Britons struggle to cope with their day-to-day finances, clamour is growing for better financial eduction in schools so that today's children do not make the same mistakes as their parents.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has even added his voice, demanding that financial education is taken more seriously in an attempt to tackle record levels of family debt. Meanwhile, Sandra Gidley, Liberal Democrat MP for Romsey, has been attempting to push a Private Member's Bill through the House of Commons that would require schools to teach children how to manage their finances. She says: “I see in my constituency surgeries individuals who are suffering. If we teach people at school basic financial management - how to budget, how to understand what an APR is - some of the problems could be prevented.”

Financial education is not compulsory and is not assessed within most schools. Pfeg, a charity set up to encourage its spread, estimates that only one in three schools includes some element of financial education in its curriculum. Wendy van den Hende, of Pfeg, says: “From September personal finance will be added as a new subject to PSHE (personal, social, health and education) courses. There is an expectation that schools will teach it, but that isn't the same as saying it is compulsory.”

Schools that have agreed to teach personal finance often do so as a module in another subject, such as maths or citizenship, which Ofsted, the official schools' inspector, says is often ineffective. Campaigners are lobbying to change the curriculum so that money matters are taught as a single subject, but so far their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

For millions of people any change in the curriculum will come too late, as their school days are long over, but it still makes sense to learn the basics. Why not take our test to find out whether you need a refresher course?

1. If you purchased a car for £3,000 on finance with an 8 per cent APR and paid it off in five years, how much would you pay in total if the interest was always based on the original purchase price?

A £3,000

B £3,040

C £4,200

D £4,407.98

2. An ATM states that you have £770 available to you today. If you withdraw £200 on your card, which has a limit of £250, how much more cash can you withdraw from your account today?

A £50

B £250

C £570

D £970

3. What does UC stand for on a bank statement?

A Underlying credit

B Unified cash

C Universal cheque

D Unpaid cheque

4. How are children's bonus bonds taxed?

A They are totally tax-free

B The person given the bond is subject to higher-rate tax only

C The person given the bond is subject to capital gains tax on any gain.

D The person given the bond is subject to basic and higher-rate tax.

5. If an advert for a new sofa offers “three years' free credit and pay nothing for the first year”, how much can you pay in the first year?

A Nothing

B The interest

C The minimum payments

D Whatever you want

6. Joe makes a profit of £2,000 on shares he bought some years ago. Does he pay capital gains tax on the profit?

A Yes

B No

7. What is hire purchase?

A Buying at the highest price

B Hiring instead of buying goods

C Paying for goods by instalments

D Selling at the highest possible price

8. Which of the following sequences is regarded as the correct order to consider allocation of any surplus income when financial planning?

A Emergency cash/investments/protection/savings

B Investments/protection/emergency cash/savings

C Protection/emergencycash/savings/investments

D Protection/savings/investments/emergency cash

9. Your credit bank balance in the morning is £20. You pay £15 for a CD using your debit card. When you withdraw cash later that day why are you allowed to take out £20?

A Card payments do not necessarily debit instantly

B The bank has made a mistake

C The shop has not processed the card properly

D You have made a mistake

10. The pension generated for an employee by a money purchase scheme is determined by:

A His or her eligibility for a state pension

B His or her final salary upon retirement

C His or her age at retirement

D How successfully the money was invested

11. Which of the following is a feature of permanent health insurance? It will:

A Only cover people who have no sick-pay conditions in their employment contracts

B Only cover the cost of medical bills related to specific illnesses

C Pay out a lump sum if the insured has a specific illness diagnosed

D Pay out a regular amount if the insured is unable to work because of illness

12. If a loan for £500 costs £26 a month over two years, how much in interest is paid over the term of the loan, assuming that there are no other costs or charges?

A £62

B £124

C £312

D £624

13. Which one of the following National Savings & Investments products provides a tax-free return on an investment of £10,000?

A Savings certificates

B Income bonds

C Investment accounts

D Ordinary accounts

14. Shirley is under 65 and working. What is her personal tax allowance (the amount that she can earn before paying any tax)?

A £2,500

B £3,500

C £5,435

D £6,500

15. John is married to Jane and is a 40 per cent taxpayer. Jane does not work. From a tax point of view, in whose name should any building society account monies be placed to save the most tax?

A John

B Jane

C Joint names

The questions are taken from IFS Foundation Certificate in Personal Finance, Intermediate Certificate in Personal Finance and Certificate in Financial Studies, plus resources provided by Life Academy, an educational charity.

Check the answers to find out how you rate

Eager to find out whether you are a money whiz-kid or a financial dunce? Here are the answers, with, where necessary, explanations of how they were reached.

1. C (£3,000 in capital and

£1,200 in interest)

2. C

3. D

4. A

5. D

6. B (Provided that this was the only profit made in a complete tax year there would be no liability to capital gains tax, as the profit is less than the allowance - £9,600 this year.)

7. C

8. C (Investments should always

be last because they are the most risky)

9. A

10. D

11. D

12. B (Total repayments: £624, of which £500 is capital repayment, the remainder pays off interest)

13. A (Not all NS&I products are tax free)

14. C

15. B

How did you rate?

12-15: Congratulations, you are a financial genius.

8-12: Not bad but your knowledge is a little rusty.

6-8: I wouldn't trust you with my money. Lets hope you're not a bank manager.

5 or less: Oh dear. You need to take a crash course in personal finance - and fast.