Children's financial education should begin in primary school, most teachers believe.

More than three in four teachers say the majority of pupils leave school without the key financial skills needed for life, a survey showed.

An overwhelming majority of teachers in the UK think children should be taught about money before they start secondary school, the poll, for the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), showed.

Hundreds of thousands of young people may be leaving school each year financially unequipped, the government-backed body warned.

A poll of 1,012 teachers, carried out by YouGov, found 76 per cent agreed that most young people leave school or college without the money skills they need for adulthood.

More than one in four (26 per cent) teachers believe financial education should start at nursery, while 44 per cent said children aged between five and seven should start learning about money and 19 per cent said between ages eight and 11 was best.