Spanish students don’t know half of the OECD financial concepts

BarcelonaThis Thursday, the OECD published the fourth volume of the results of the famous PISA tests. On this occasion, the study analyzes the financial competence of 15-year-old students, and once again the Spanish students do not come out so well. In the report, which this time does not contain educational results broken down by autonomous communities, Spain achieved 486 points in financial efficiency, a figure six points lower than the 2018 test results and twelve points lower than the OECD average. Which were examined in this competition (which are not all as in other reports).

The test, taken by more than 2,000 students across the state, consists of a mix of multiple-choice or open-ended questions that must be answered from a passage of text describing a real-life financial situation. In this way, the results published on Thursday show that of the 16 financial concepts asked in the PISA tests, Spanish students know on average only seven. The concepts that dominate the most are on (75% of students know this), budget (70%), contractor (68%) i Bank loan (66%). On the contrary, those who know less are like concepts Compound interest (21%), exchange rate (21%), diversification (19%), Return on investment (18%) i Consumption (9%) In all concepts analysed, the average knowledge of OECD students is higher than the Spanish average.

Regarding the distribution of students by level based on their knowledge, 17% of Spanish students have a low or very low level of financial competence, 58% an average level and 25% reach a high or very high level, which are similar percentages compared to those achieved by students on average across the OECD.

Every week there is talk about money in the house

OECD tests also analyzed the relationship between students and money. The report indicates that, on average, Spanish students talk at least once a week with their parents about money-related topics. What they talk about most is shopping (49%), followed by their weekly shopping (39%), their savings (38%), their expenses (37%), and online shopping (36%).

In fact, regarding this last situation, the study shows that 85% of 15-year-old students in the state have made some online purchases in the past 12 months. In addition, 58% of Spanish students used their mobile phones to pay in the past year.

On the other hand, less than half of students in the fourth year of secondary education (47%) declare that they have a bank account, compared to 63%, which is the OECD average. The percentage is even lower for students who say they have their own payment card: in Spain, only 24% of 15-year-old students have one, while on average in OECD countries, 62% of students have one. One card, and in some countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, this percentage exceeds 90%. Finally, 41% of teens admit they buy based on their mood, and 68% say they have better control over what they spend when they pay with cash.