Financial education will become a compulsory component of the Citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16-year-olds in state schools from September 2014 – we strongly believe this is great news for young people now and later in their lives.


The move came following a campaign by MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis and other groups to get the subject taught in schools. A petition launched in 2011 by MoneySavingExpert.com to make financial education part of the national curriculum received over 118,000 signatures, showing the strength of feeling on the subject. Indeed, a survey by the site found that 97% of teachers and headteachers were in favour of financial education being taught in schools.


MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis said: "For over 20 years we've educated our youth into debt when they go to university, without educating them about debt. We desperately need to break the cycle of financial illiteracy in the UK – one of the causes of our current economic crisis and a huge contributor to continued mis-selling epidemics. Education is a cheap and easy way to fix the problem.”

Real-life issues

At vision2learn we regularly talk to schools and many say they’re concerned about children’s knowledge about finance, particularly in the face of sometimes-aggressive marketing campaigns from credit companies and payday loan firms – some young people are receiving promotional literature as soon as they are able to take out credit or even earlier in some cases. There have been reports of vulnerable university students being targeted as well as payday loan firms advertising during children’s TV. These campaigns can be particularly prominent in areas where families’ earnings are typically lower and money problems are common.

It’s not just young people who are affected either. A study by the Centre for Economic and Business Research found that lack of financial education costs the UK a massive £3.4 billion a year in four key areas – unemployment, retirement, debt and mis-selling.

More and more schools are keen to help protect their pupils against debt problems and to equip them with the knowledge and confidence to make sound financial decisions - decisions which can have a long-term impact on a young person’s life.

Financial education: What’s needed?

The Government says it wants students to be equipped with the "financial skills to enable them to manage their money on a day-to-day basis as well as to plan for future financial needs".

Key Stage 3 students will need to be taught about:

• the functions and uses of money


• the importance of personal budgeting


• money management and a range of financial products and services.

Key Stage 4 students will learn about:

• wages


• taxes


• credit


• debt


• financial risk and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services.

Financial education resources

For many schools, offering financial education in a formal way from September 2014 will mean significant planning and the creation of brand new resources. Our Personal Money Management course offers an off-the-shelf online solution that could form part of your school’s strategy for teaching financial education.

It includes key topics such as:

• Sources of money


• Income and expenditure


• Savings and debt


• Bank accounts and statements


• All about pay slips


• All about savings


• Planning a significant purchase


• Going ahead with your purchase

It includes quizzes, money tips and examples to help students understand money and how it applies to their life now and in the future.

If you’d like to see a demonstration of our NCFE Level 1 Award in Personal Money Management in person or online, please get in touch. We also offer a range of online vocational courses and GCSE resources

Financial education | Ofsted