Financial Education in Schools

Students learn many important things in schools. However, one of the most crucial aspects of life, financial literacy, barely features in curriculums. A basic understanding of finance management is crucial to learning how to handle your money in adulthood.

There are several important questions that students have to learn through experience. School and college leaves us with little prior knowledge of:

• How do I get my pay?
• How does tax work?
• What kind of taxes are there?
• How does a credit card work and what happens to my debt?
• What happens to my money in the bank?
• How does a mortgage work?
• How can I budget and save effectively?

Delivering Financial Education in Schools

So, why aren’t our children getting financial education in schools? A little bit of background in these areas could be of enormous use to young people. Financial literacy for students must become more present in our education systems. There are great independent resources available online, like the Money Advice Service, but it can be difficult to understand fully if you have little first-hand experience with finance.

We strongly advocate for the delivery of at least some basic financial information through the school systems. This could provide children with a deeper understanding of not only how money, debt and taxes work, but how it might apply to them in future.

Our colleagues at the Professional Finance Society (PFS) share this ambition. They are currently running an initiative which enables professionals to deliver sessions in financial education to schools.

Needless to say, this is an initiative we fully support! We invite local schools to get in touch with us if this something they feel would benefit their students. We are passionate about supporting children, which is why we also have a partnership with The Island, a youth charity in York.

Tax advice is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The Financial Conduct Authority do not regulate certain types of Buy To Let / Commercial Mortgages.

A home may be repossessed if the repayments on a mortgage are not kept up.

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