Why we started the SSBC.
Before building the Sydney Schools Business Competition, we asked 73 secondary students, most of them at Sydney schools, about money, school and the finance industry. They also took a ten-question quiz. Here's what they told us, how it lines up with national research, and what we built in response.
The short version
- 95%say school doesn't teach enough about money
- 79%answered the superannuation question correctly, but only 35% felt confident about it
- 37%take no Economics, Business Studies, Commerce or Legal Studies
- 84%would consider, or might consider, a career in finance
School leaves it to chance
Asked whether school teaches enough about money, only 4 of 73 students said yes. Most of what they know comes from home.
- Yes, plenty: 5%
- Sort of: 59%
- Not even close: 36%
“I think school does nowhere enough to teach teenagers about it, and it's all up to parents or self learning.”
“Easy to learn about independently when you have people around you who are well informed about it. People who don't have that luxury might fall behind.”
They know more than they think
Students rated themselves 3.3 out of 5 on average, then scored 6.4 out of 10 on the quiz. On four of five topics, more of them answered correctly than felt confident. The gap isn't ability. It's confidence.
- Superannuation35%79%
- Investing and shares43%74%
- Tax35%60%
- Credit, loans and debt42%54%
- Budgeting and saving53%51%
There are real gaps too. Only 38% could answer the question on the 50/30/20 budgeting rule, 53% the one on HECS-HELP repayments and 56% the one on minimum repayments.
Finance feels closed off
Asked for words that describe the finance industry, students most often chose “out of touch with young people”. Fewer than one in five chose “trustworthy”.
“Inaccessible to high schoolers.”
“Kind of separate from us.”
But they want in
Almost half would consider a career in finance, and nearly nine in ten would take a free online course on money.
- Yes: 49%
- Maybe: 34%
- No: 16%
- Yes: 47%
- Maybe: 42%
- No: 11%
What they wish someone taught them
What the wider research says
Our survey is small. Larger studies across Australia point the same way.
- 94%
of school leavers believe financial literacy should be taught in schools, yet fewer than half remember learning about money at school. Only 34% said they understand how superannuation works, close to the 35% of our students who felt confident about it.
Pollinate with Financial Basics Foundation and Australian Retirement Trust, survey of more than 1,000 Australians aged 16–24. Source - 11%
of young Australians fell into the “high financial literacy” band, even though 75% know about superannuation.
Anyway, The Youth Financial Literacy Index: Inside Gen Z Financial Considerations, 2026, 1,008 Australians aged 14–25, reported by Rest. Source - 57%
of Gen Z women and 41% of Gen Z men feel overwhelmed by finances. 37% of young women and 27% of young men say they don't know much about finances.
ASIC Moneysmart, survey by YouGov of 1,016 Australians aged 18–26, October 2023 (media release 24-023MR). Source - <10%
of NSW Year 12 students studied Economics in 2016, down from nearly 40% in 1991. Enrolments fell by nearly 75% over that time.
Jacqui Dwyer, Reserve Bank of Australia, “Studying Economics: The Decline in Enrolments and Why it Matters”, 29 July 2017. Source - 4,698
Year 10–12 students at 51 NSW schools told the Reserve Bank that many don't have a clear idea of what Economics is or the careers it leads to. Female, lower-income and regional students were more likely to see choosing it as a risk.
Livermore and Major, “Why Study (or Not Study) Economics? A Survey of High School Students”, RBA Bulletin, June 2020. Source
What we built in response
- Built for beginners
- Students know more than they think, so the SSBC assumes no finance background. Every term is explained the first time it appears, and judges reward clear reasoning over jargon.
- Free, and open to every school
- Money knowledge shouldn't depend on who you have at home. Entry costs nothing, needs no paid software, and any NSW secondary school can enter up to three teams.
- A real company, not a textbook
- Finance feels out of touch, so teams advise a company with a genuine problem and make the calls an adviser would, one stage at a time. See how the competition works.
- Short lessons
- Nearly nine in ten students would take a free online course, so we're building one. See our programs.
About the survey
- An online survey run by Mile Zero, 1–8 October 2026. 73 students answered it and 72 took the quiz.
- Years 7 to 12, mostly Year 12 (33 students), then Years 10 and 11 (11 each), Year 7 (7), Year 9 (6) and Year 8 (1). Four didn't say.
- Most respondents attend Sydney schools, with a few from interstate and overseas.
- Students chose to take part, so the results describe this group, not every student in NSW.
- The quiz had ten questions across five topics. “Not sure” counted as not correct. Percentages are rounded.
- Quotes are shown without names. We don't publish who took part.
Start at zero, with everyone else.
Free to enter. Registrations close 2 February 2027.