Mathematics
Mathematical skills can help to underpin financial capability
The programmes of study for Key Stages 3 and 4 encourage teachers to draw on a wide range of contexts to illustrate how mathematics is used in society, including the financial context.
The revised framework from the National Strategy will include the key concepts and processes in the national curriculum which now place greater emphasis on financial education.
pfeg helps teachers introduce money management into mathematics through the Learning Money Matters initiative.
The relationship between mathematics and personal finance
Personal finance provides a relevant and engaging context for the development and application of many mathematical skills. By using and applying these skills in real life situations young people will see their relevance. Financial situations also provide living contexts where students can use and apply their functional mathematical skills.
Some examples of where the new programme of study for mathematics at Key stage 4 refers to finance as a context:
Importance statement
Pupils who are functional in mathematics and financially capable are able to think independently in applied and abstract ways, and can reason, solve problems and assess risk.
Key concepts
Competence
- Applying suitable mathematics accurately within the classroom and beyond – explanatory notes state – ….requires fluency and confidence in a range of mathematical techniques and processes that can be applied in a widening range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts, including managing money.
Range and content
Number and algebra:
- Rules and arithmetic applied to calculations and manipulations….. – explanatory notes state - includes using mental and written methods to make sense of everyday situations such as financial statements and transactions.
Statistics:
- Experimental and theoretical probabilities – explanatory notes state - includes applying ideas of probability and risk to gambling and safety issues [and to the financial services sector]
Curriculum Opportunities
- Work on problems that arise in other subjects and in contexts beyond the school – explanatory notes state - Other subjects: for example, managing money in economic wellbeing and financial capability; Contexts beyond the school: conducting a survey into consumer habits, planning a holiday budget, designing a product and measuring for home improvements. Mathematical skills contribute to financial capability and to other aspects of preparation for adult life.
Some other financial contexts relevant to mathematical concepts and processes could include:
- understanding and calculating earnings and deductions, benefits and student finance
- making decisions about purchases, including calculating value for money alternatives and the best means of payment, such as using cash, credit or debt
- managing income and expenditure, eg accurately reading and understanding bills and statements, estimating budgets for independent living, or building a business plan for an enterprise project
- understanding ,comparing and calculating the costs of fuel and water for homes•
- comparing the returns on savings and investments, including interest rates, past performance and risk and return
- comparing the costs of different types of credit and loans
- identifying the experimental and theoretical probabilities of different kinds of risks and how insurance may provide a cost-effective means of protection against them.
