Students make saving top priority

According to a poll of Further Education (FE) students in England by the National Skills Academy for Financial Services (NSAFS), students have identified saving as the financial priority that they are most concerned about.

Students were given six financial topics to choose from: bank accounts; savings; mobile phones; loans and mortgages; university fees or debit, credit and store cards, and 28% of the 2,365 students surveyed highlighted ‘savings’ as their top concern, with university fees coming in second at 22%.

However, there were regional differences in the results, with students in London showing greater consideration for their education above savings, with almost 30% citing university fees as the area that they were most concerned about.

Overall, savings were also the top choice for FE students in the East of England, North West, South West and Yorkshire and Humber regions; however, information on bank accounts came above university fees in most colleges, suggesting managing their money, rather than education, is more important in these areas.

Sylvia Perrins, CEO, NSAFS, said:

“It’s very encouraging that students want to save for their future, and continue their studies. The challenge lies in how young people will plan and create a pool of funds to help them finance their immediate and long term futures, and assist their continuing education at university.”

The research forms the basis of the personal money management programme, ‘Money for LiFE’, delivered by the NSAFS culminating in Money Week (8 – 12 March) – a dedicated week of fun activities to engage students in money management. Last year up to 15,000 learners benefited from money management training undertaken by NSAFS in three pilot regions. This academic year’s target for Money Week events is to reach 30,000 learners in 75 colleges.