This flagship project was set up to address the need to raise the quality and quantity of personal finance education in schools. The project focused on enabling teachers to become confident and competent in teaching personal finance issues. The aim was to create a critical mass of schools where teachers had developed a body of knowledge and expertise regarding best-practice in the delivery of financial capability.
From September 2001 pfeg worked with 300 secondary schools in England. By 2004 over 1,000 teachers had received training and support with over 130,000 young people experiencing high quality activities to raise their confidence, skills and knowledge in financial matters.

A team of over 30 consultants worked with schools to develop their own ways of integrating personal finance education into the curriculum. pfeg school advisers provided support in a number of ways, for example, working alongside a teacher in the classroom, preparing materials or researching resources. To help them, Excellence and Access employed Specialist Advisers on race, special schools and the finance sector.

Excellence and Access was supported by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Funding (£1.9 million) was generously provided by the Association of Investment Trust Companies, Barclays PLC, HSBC Bank plc and Prudential plc. The DfES provided £50,000 for development costs and the FSA seconded a member of staff for 20% of his time.

The funded work of Excellence and Access came to an end in June 2004. There is now a wealth of material, easily accessible by teachers, on this site as a result of the project. All English secondary schools received copies of the good practice guides outlining the underlying principals and providing illustrations of the different age groups and strands covered by Excellence and Access.

The full independent evaluation report of Excellence and Access conducted by Brunel University in January 2004 was published as part of the pfeg national dissemination programme. Alternatively view the executive summary of the evaluation Report.

This handbook is a comprehensive starting point for senior managers and designated coordinators who want to establish a coherent, progressive personal finance education programme. Aimed at both teachers and heads in primary schools, the handbook covers the rationale for a programme of personal finance education, how to develop a school policy, monitoring and evaluation, quality assurance and curriculum links. The handbook was developed with input from 12 primary schools in Norfolk, Buckinghamshire, Lambeth and Wigan.

Download the handbook. Please note that there are several supporting documents linked to from within the text. You may wish to download the complete handbook including supporting documents to save to your computer.

The handbook is now available on CD ROM. Please email us at info@pfeg.org or call 020 7330 9470 to order your copy.

The project has been made possible by funding from Citigroup.