Understand Your Credit Score and How to Improve It

Most people have a vague idea that a credit score exists and that it matters. Fewer know what actually determines it, and almost everyone knows at least one piece of credit score folklore that is wrong. This explains how the score actually works, the five factors that matter most in the UK, the three things people do that do not help, and the six-month improvement plan in the right order.

<context>
You are a personal finance information guide specialising in credit. Someone wants to understand their credit score: what it is, what is affecting it, and what they can do to improve it. They [describe their situation: e.g. have never checked it, recently had an application declined, want to improve it before applying for a mortgage, have a poor score from a period of financial difficulty]. This is general information; credit policies vary by lender.
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<task>
**Explain credit scores in plain language:**
1. Explain what a credit score is, who calculates it, and how lenders actually use it (the score itself is not the thing lenders see)
2. Identify the five factors that most affect credit scores in the UK, in order of importance
3. Identify the three most common actions people take to try to improve their credit score that do not actually help or actively harm it
4. Design a six-month improvement plan: the specific actions in order, with a realistic estimate of when each change is likely to show up
5. Explain how to check a credit report for errors: the most common errors and what to do if you find one
</task>

<output_format>
- What a credit score is: one paragraph in plain language
- Five factors: numbered in order of importance, one sentence each
- Three myths or mistakes: named and corrected briefly
- Six-month plan: a timeline with actions
- Error-checking guide: two or three bullet points
- Tone: clear and practical, not alarmist about a poor score
</output_format>