MPs today launch a new inquiry into how financial education can
be strengthened throughout primary, secondary and further
education.
There is broad agreement that financial education – teaching
children and young people skills and knowledge to manage their
financial decisions – needs to be reviewed.
The subject has been part of the National Curriculum for local
authority-run secondary schools since 2014. For those schools it
is taught in Citizenship lessons, with some elements also
included in mathematics. But academies and free schools can opt
out of teaching it, while some choose to include it in Personal,
Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE).
In recent years there have been campaigns for financial education
to be introduced as a compulsory part of the primary curriculum
and for more content to be compulsory.
The cross-party Committee will explore reasons why the subject is
often overlooked and how well schools and teachers are supported
to deliver it. A 2022 Bank of England-commissioned survey
found that almost two-thirds of teachers felt there wasn’t time
or resources to fit it into the school year.
The Centre for Social Justice has called for an “urgent rethink”
of the way we approach financial education. The think thank
carried out research
last year that found two-thirds of young adults who experienced
financial difficulties believe better financial education could
have helped them.
After questions about the practicalities of the Government’s
ambition that all 16-to-18-year-olds should study some form of
maths, the Committee is interested to examine whether financial
education could form part of the post-16 curriculum to better
prepare young people for adult life and to support progression.
Chair's comment
Education Committee Chair said:
“Today we are launching a new inquiry into how financial
education can be more strongly established in the National
Curriculum.
“As a backbench MP I supported the cross-party campaign to ensure
it became a part of the curriculum. But almost a decade later,
there are still plenty of concerns that students and teachers
feel that not enough financial education is being
delivered.
“With families and young people continuing to feel cost-of-living
pressures, the case for equipping children of all backgrounds
with the life skills and knowledge to help manage their money
feels as strong and timely as ever. In surveys of young people,
financial education is frequently identified as something that
they want more of.
“The Committee is also very aware of the strain many teachers and
school leaders are under and is reluctant to place extra demands
on their time. This will be among our key considerations when
examining how best to embed this subject into the curriculum from
ages 11 to 16, and whether including more of the content in
mathematics may offer the most logical solution.
“With the input of academics and experts, and working with the
profession, we hope to contribute ideas of how best to build
financial education into the primary school curriculum, and look
at what role it could play in the Prime Minister’s aim of
incorporating a form of mathematics study for all at post-16.
Teaching young people these practical skills could help boost
engagement in a subject that some find abstract or
challenging.”
Call for evidence
To inform its inquiry, the Committee is now accepting written
evidence submissions that respond to the following terms of
reference. MPs want to hear from a range of sources but
particularly teachers, pupils, and school administrators.
Information on how to submit evidence online by Friday 15
December is available here.
- What should we be teaching young people about money? What
should financial education include and are there any aspects
missing from the current provision?
- Where should financial education sit within the National
Curriculum between the ages of 11 and 16? To what extent does its
current position within the curriculum limit the amount of
delivery time it receives? Should financial education form part
of a core subject, such as mathematics?
- What steps should be taken to support teachers and schools in
their delivery of financial education?
- Should the provision of financial education in schools be
extended beyond key stages three and four. Is there scope for it
to be embedded more extensively at primary-school level?
- The Government has outlined proposals to ensure that all
students study some form of maths up until the age of 18 – should
financial education be included in these plans and, if so, how?
Examples of best practice in teaching financial education are
welcomed.
