Schools and colleges will be able to teach personal finance to 14-16 year olds from this year, following a successful pilot by the Institute of Financial Services.

The ifs level 1 Foundation Certificate in Personal Finance (FCPF) and ifs level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Personal Finance (ICPF) will be available to all UK schools and colleges from September 2006.

Both of these innovative new qualifications are accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and appear in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

The qualifications aim to address the poor levels of financial capability in the UK at grass roots level, and equips students with a good understanding of basic money management in order to help them make confident and well informed decisions later in life.

Each qualification comprises of two units - 'Introduction to Money', and 'Money Management' for the Foundation Certificate; and 'Personal Financial Encounters', and 'Money Management Solutions' for the Intermediate Certificate.

Each unit is assessed by a single 30-minute objective test. There is also a synoptic 60-minute objective test for students to complete at the end of their studies for the ICPF. 60 guided learning hours are recommended for the FCPF and 90 for the ICPF.

Gavin Shreeve, Chief Executive at the ifs said: "Financial literacy in the UK is at crisis point with consumer debt hitting over £1 trillion in 2005."

"The introduction of the ifs level 1 and 2 qualifications could not have come at a better time and we hope to encourage more schools and colleges to take up our financial capability qualifications to help secure a financially fit future. We believe these skills are so fundamental that we are also planning to offer these courses to the wider adult community."