A KENT grammar school will tomorrow (Friday) be placed at the forefront of moves to introduce the teaching of financial education in all secondary schools across the UK.

The aim is to prevent students running up huge credit card debts in later life, make better financial decisions and encourage them to save for their future.

Chatham Grammar School for Boys is one of a number of schools and colleges, which currently run the Certificate in Financial Studies.

The certificate was launched last year by the Institute of Financial Services (ifs). The Certificate, which has been approved by the education regulator QCA, is the equivalent of an AS level qualification.

As part of moves underway to lobby government officials to include the course as part of the national curriculum, Jonathan Shaw, the MP for Chatham and Aylsford, will tomorrow visit the school to consult teachers and students on the success of the programme.

Mr Shaw said: "It is great to see one of our own local schools at the forefront in the move to teach financial education.”

Craig Brown, head of Humanities the school, said: “The course has already attracted a sizeable number of students and we believe that it is an essential lifestyle skill that should be given the proper priority it deserves. We believe that all schools and colleges should provide students with the opportunity to improve their personal finance knowledge.”

Gavin Shreeve, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Services commented: “It is great to see schools and colleges such as Chatham support our initiative to teach personal finance education as a stand alone subject.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to arm themselves with the knowledge they need to help them avoid a number of financial pitfalls that the current generation of twenty-something year olds face today.”