Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of (a) health and nutrition advice and (b) personal finance advice in schools; and if she will make a statement.

We encourage schools to create a whole-school culture that promotes health and well-being so that all our children are fit, healthy and able to learn. Schools have the flexibility to choose which educational resources they use to support their teaching and there are opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to be taught the knowledge and skills they need to support heathy living.

The national curriculum, which came into effect in September 2014, sets the expectation that across a variety of subjects, pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. For example, in primary schools, children are taught about healthy eating, where their food comes from, and how to prepare and cook a range of dishes. In secondary schools, cookery is now compulsory and children are taught to cook a range of healthy and nutritious meals. They are equipped with knowledge about healthy eating and what is meant by a balanced diet. Physical education (PE) is compulsory at all four key stages and should provide opportunities for pupils to become physically confident in a way that supports their health and fitness.

The new national curriculum also made financial literacy statutory for the first time. It is taught as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds. Pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and the need to understand financial risk. The national curriculum for mathematics has also been strengthened to give pupils from 5 to 16 the necessary mathematical skills they need to make important financial decisions.

Financial education can also be addressed more broadly as part of extra-curricular activities. Programmes such as the National Citizen Service give young people the chance to plan and potentially fundraise for a social action project.