Schoolchildren call to be taught more financial education

‘In three years at secondary school, we’ve only had one day of financial education,’ says 14–year–old Eashan Brown.

‘We had one day where we did a bit about budgeting, saving and spending. We were given like a set amount of money that we had to divide between rent and groceries and things like that.

‘Apart from that one day, we haven’t really had any other formal education about our personal finances.’

Eashan is one of a number of children increasingly calling for more financial education in the curriculum.

Some 84 per cent of school age children said they want to see financial education included on the Government’s new national curriculum, according to research by GoHenry, shared exclusively with This is Money.

Financial education became part of the curriculum in 2014, but only local government–maintained schools are legally required to follow this curriculum. Academies, free schools and private schools don’t have to do so.

The Government is currently reviewing the existing curriculum, with recommendations set to be published later this year. 

According to Louise Hill, founder of GoHenry, four in five schools don’t have to follow the national curriculum.

She told This is Money: ‘Financial education is not rated or score, and it isn’t inspected by Ofsted. 

‘The result of all of that is that over 60 per cent of kids leave school saying that they don’t remember being taught anything about money.’

In May, This is Money reported that 74 per cent of young people don’t realise that financial education is on the curriculum, based on data from Boon Brokers.

‘It was fun,’ Eashan said of his school budgeting workshop, ‘ but it wasn’t enough to actually learn.’

Eashan, understandably, wants financial education to go further at his school.

He added: ‘I think it should just cover saving and spending and learning how to budget. I just think of saving and spending is really important for people at our age.

‘People get an allowance of like £5 per week from their parents, but then it is instantly spent on sweets or fast food on the high street.

‘They don’t really understand the importance of saving for something bigger and something more enjoyable, and then they go begging to their parents.’

Children at Eashan’s school have even lost money trading cryptocurrency, he says. 

Financial education has its benefits for children in the short term, Eashan says,  but also over the rest of their lives.

He said: ‘If you get to 22 and you’re thinking of buying a one bedroom flat or you are going to start renting, that’s great, but you’re not equipped with the skills to be able to make and save that money, or to be able to budget properly for your essential needs and the things that you don’t necessarily have to have.’

These skills are essential to adult life, and children are aware of this. 

GoHenry’s data reveals that 84 per cent said financial education is equally or more important than maths, English and science, with 90 per cent aware it will help in later life.

Hill said: ‘Our kid’s–eye view of the national curriculum makes clear that children want to learn more about money in school… It certainly doesn’t go into enough detail and, most importantly, it doesn’t start early enough. 

‘Cambridge University did research several years ago that showed financial habits start to be formed from the age of seven.

‘So if we’re leaving it for secondary school, and some schools are delivering it and some schools aren’t, and the provision is patchy, we’re really leaving kids behind.’

GoHenry is calling for the Government to make financial education compulsory from primary school.

Almost a quarter, 22 per cent, of the 2,000 children surveyed said they think financial education should be a standalone subject. Currently, it is taught across subjects, often PSHE and Maths.

Hill said: ‘We recommend that financial education is inspected and scored by Ofsted and so that it is something that is monitored and the schools understand is important enough that it is being monitored.

‘By separating it out from [subjects like] Maths and making it to standalone subject, you can certainly get a lot more hands on, give students a lot more real life examples and relate it directly to real life so that kids learn and engage with it.’

In its current state, financial education in schools doesn’t seem to be paying off. Some 72 per cent of children said they learned most of their money skills from their parents.

Worryingly, 26 per cent said social media was their main source of financial knowledge.

Parental support has been key for Eashan when learning about money.

He said: ‘Since I was really young, mum has involved in me in things like how we pay the mortgage, why we’ve got a mortgage, and having cars on finance versus buying them outright, or taxes and tax brackets.’

Many children don’t have this experience, and for many parents it can be difficult to pass this information on if they don’t fully have a grasp of it themselves.

Hill said: ‘If parents can support their kids with learning about money, that’s fantastic. When we talk to parents, and we do talk to an awful lot of parents, what comes back again and again is that they don’t necessarily all feel confident enough to do that.

‘If parents are not confident with money, it’s asking a lot for them to be able to unlock that learning for their child. 

‘If we can get financial education made mandatory on the national curriculum, then we can be sure that an entire generation grows up with those money skills for life and that it can be delivered by people with the expertise to do that.’