Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the Centre for Financial Capability’s finding that one-fifth of primary school children have access to financial education.

The Government wants all young people to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.

The Department works closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and HM Treasury to consider the wide range of evidence for financial education, and to explore the opportunities to improve the availability to high quality financial education for all pupils. This evidence includes reports from the Centre for Financial Capability.

MaPS has a statutory duty to develop and coordinate a national strategy to improve people’s financial capabilities. Their ten year strategy, published in 2020, set out their national goal that two million more children and young people will receive a meaningful financial education by 2030. The strategy is supported by Delivery Plans for each nation of the UK. This can be found here: https://www.maps.org.uk/uk-strategy-for-financial-wellbeing/.

The Department has introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum which provides young people with the knowledge and financial capabilities to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, using percentages. There is also some specific content regarding financial education, such as calculations with money. Primary schools can also choose to teach financial education content within their citizenship curriculum, using the non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages 1 and 2. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/citizenship-programmes-of-study-for-key-stages-1-and-2.

MaPS published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England, to support schools to enhance the financial education currently being taught. This guidance can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.

The Department and MaPS will deliver a series of joint financial education webinars this academic year, aimed at promoting the importance of financial education for all pupils, improving teacher confidence and knowledge.