Financial Services: Primary Education

(asked on 11th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to recommendation made in April 2016 by the APPG on Financial Education for Young People, what progress his Department has made on developing the delivery of financial education at a primary level; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 21st December 2020

Education on financial matters ensures that pupils are well prepared to manage their money, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information if required. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds.

The Department also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Department has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should be taught about financial education from Key Stages 1 to 4.

In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the arithmetic that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy and numbers will underpin the pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also some specific content about financial education such as calculations with money.

The Department does not monitor or assess the resources that schools use and we trust schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations. We will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service, and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be learned from other sector initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Schools should have resumed teaching an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term. This means that all pupils will be taught a wide range of subjects so they can maintain their choices for further study and employment. The Department’s latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

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