Secondary education

The current secondary curriculum has three statutory aims which require schools to plan a curriculum to enable all young people to become:

• successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
• confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
• responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

Personal finance education contributes to all three aims.

The new curriculum balances subject knowledge with the key concepts and processes that underlie the discipline of each subject. The current programmes of study share a common format:

• An importance statement that describes why the subject matters and how it can contribute to the aims
• Key concepts that define the big ideas that underpin the subject
• Key processes – the essential skills of the subject
• Range and content setting out the breadth of subject matter from which teachers should draw to develop knowledge, concepts and skills
• Curriculum opportunities that enhance and enrich learning, including making links to the wider curriculum.

This common format makes it easier to see links between subjects. Several subjects share key concepts and processes; curriculum opportunities highlight the potential for links between subjects; and dimensions such as enterprise, creativity, and cultural understanding and diversity can be used to cut across the curriculum.

This offers increased opportunity to design a curriculum that develops the wider skills for life and learning. It also links to the major ideas and challenges that face individuals and society as a whole.

The programmes of study for economic wellbeing and financial capability can be taught within PSHE education. The programmes of study for citizenship and mathematics all make explicit reference to money and financial capability.

The current Government has set out its intention to give schools even greater freedom over the curriculum and has instituted a comprehensive review of the National Curriculum for 5 to 16 year olds in England. This will be developed in line with principles of freedom, responsibility and fairness with the aim of raising standards for all children and narrowing achievement gaps. This page will be updated in line with Government announcements as they occur.

In Autumn 2008 the then Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF), now the Department for Education (DfE), published personal finance education guidance entitled 'Financial capability in the secondary curriculum: key stages 3 and 4'.  This explains what financial capability is and where it fits in the secondary curriculum.  It also covers questions like 'what are we trying to achieve?' 'how do we organise learning for financial capability?' and 'how well are we achieving our aims?'.