Money Education in Schools
Credit Action has always firmly believed that learning about money from an early age is essential if young people are going to be effective managing their personal finances later on. We do not think it is right that in this day and age many are still leaving school ill equipped to manage their money in adult life because they have not been taught even the basics about budgeting, bank accounts and credit whilst at school. Research has shown that financial education can dramatically improve individuals' awareness, knowledge and confidence in financial matters for the future, and that a lack of these skills can lead to longer term financial difficulties.
Credit Action has for some time been working to provide financial help, information and advice to students going to university as to how they can best manage their money before, during and after completing their degrees. Around 400,000 students every year receive the Credit Action Student Moneymanual and, in conjunction with this, we have delivered a number of short seminar and assembly sessions in sixth form colleges. We have recently received funding from HSBC to develop and expand our new 16-19s Money Education Project so we can deliver finance education into colleges completely free of charge.
Credit Action values the work of other organisations which are seeking to raise awareness of, and provide resources for, the delivery of money education throughout all the Key Stages.
The Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) is the UK's leading financial education charity which helps schools to plan and teach financial capability relevant to students' lives and needs. It provides free support, resources and consultancy to teachers and school leadership teams, and also works with government and key bodies with the aim of influencing education policy. pfeg awards Quality Mark accreditation for financial education materials and resources, ranging from Year 1 to Year 13, to ensure they are suitable, effective and of the highest educational quality. For all the latest Quality Mark and pfeg resources, click here.
pfeg is working alongside HSBC on their What Money Means project, helping primary schools teach personal finance with the assistance of HSBC volunteers. Projects have ranged from running a stall at the summer fair to recycling and fair trade.
DebtCred was previously our partner organisation and has recently become a ring-fenced project within Credit Action. It provides a range of materials and resources to help support secondary school teachers and educators in the delivery of money education in schools. In April 2009, DebtCred launched a new Quality Mark online resource called Your Money and Your Life which can be downloaded for free by teachers through the DebtCred website. Topics cover the extensive range of financial services and products and teach students how to make sense of them, how to budget and set goals for life, and how to develop responsible attitudes to money.
In recent years, qualifications and awards for personal finance education have increased in popularity. The pfeg website provides a list of qualifications and awards that are centred upon personal finance, which can be viewed by clicking here. In addition, The Institute of Financial Studies (ifs) School of Finance provides GCSE, AS and A Level equivalent qualifications in personal finance which are available to all schools and colleges in the UK, covering essential topics such as debt, loans, credit cards and budgeting. For the course list, click here.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) offers tools and resources to help people understand and improve financial capability. To find out how to get involved with their work in schools, click here.
Presently, provision for financial education in schools is a crowded field with many courses and programmes covering elements of personal finance education. Even so, financial education is only being delivered in around half of all schools! This is why Credit Action is delighted that the Government has confirmed that from September 2011 Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education will be made compulsory in all schools, of which ‘Economic Wellbeing and Financial Capability' is one of the key units. Credit Action hopes that, through this initiative, a more comprehensive implementation of financial education will be realised in every school across the UK.
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