Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including personal financial education as a subject in the National Curriculum.

Financial education already forms a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for mathematics at Key Stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at Key Stages 3 and 4, which together cover important financial topics including personal budgeting, saving for the future, managing credit and debt, and calculating interest. The National Curriculum is compulsory for maintained schools. Academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, including mathematics.

My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister recently announced more funding for secondary mathematics, and that mathematics will be studied by all 16 to 18 year olds as part of the new Advanced British Standard qualification.

As with all aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver financial education, so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs and background of their pupils.

There is a wide range of support for financial education. The Money and Pensions Service has published guidance, setting out how schools can improve the financial education they deliver, and signposting to services and resources that can help. The guidance is available at: https://maps.org.uk/en/publications/research/2021/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england.

Talk Money Week, which is running from 6 to 10 November, is focused on this year’s campaign ‘Do One Thing’ to help improve financial wellbeing. The Talk Money Week 2023 Toolkit for Schools includes a dedicated pack of information and resources to help schools promote the financial wellbeing of their pupils and students, during Talk Money Week and beyond. The toolkit is available at: https://maps.org.uk/en/our-work/talk-money-week#Download-the-Toolkit-for-Schools.

The Department’s national network of 40 Maths Hubs also supports schools to improve their mathematics teaching, including financial content in the mathematics curriculum, based on best practice from East Asia.

The Oak National Academy, which became an independent Arm’s Length Body in September 2022, will provide adaptable, optional and free support for schools to reduce teacher workload and enable schools to provide a high quality curriculum. New Oak curriculum materials, including for mathematics, will start to be available from autumn 2023, with full curriculum packages available by summer 2024. Oak’s next phase of procurement of curriculum resources is expected to launch in late 2023 and will include citizenship.