Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of financial education are required to be taught to pupils at (a) primary and (b) secondary school.

All schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Financial education and political literacy are important aspects of the citizenship programmes of study, which are statutory at key stages 3 and 4 in maintained schools.

The department has also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic knowledge that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of numeracy and numbers will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, using percentages. There is also some specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money. At secondary level, there is more specific content related to financial education in both the secondary mathematics curriculum and in the mathematics GCSE content. Pupils are taught how to solve problems such as loan repayments and interest rates and personal finance problems such as compound interest.

The government does not specify how schools should allocate their time to deliver the curriculum. School managers will need to design their timetables to meet their curriculum requirements. Teachers are encouraged to develop their practice in a way that meets the specific needs of their pupils.