Learning Money Matters - for secondary schools
Register below for support from a pfeg consultant at no cost to your school
Learning Money Matters is a pfeg initiative aimed at increasing and improving personal finance education in secondary schools in England, so that all young people will leave school with the financial knowledge, skills and confidence they need to live full adult lives.
It offers free advice, support and resources to schools and teachers who want to teach personal finance education in a way that fits an individual school's needs, with the help of a nationwide network of consultants.
Why it's needed
The level of debt in the UK is at an all time high, particularly among people under the age of 40. We need to educate young people so that they understand how to manage their money, how to shop around among the vast array of financial products and services on offer, and how to save for the future.
The Learning Money Matters approach eases the pressure on teachers by helping them integrate personal finance into the work they are already doing. If they don't feel confident about money issues themselves, we can help with that too.
Across the curriculum
Learning Money Matters helps teachers introduce personal finance in all areas of the curriculum. For example:
- in PSHE education students could look at managing family budgets
- in citizenship, students could look at taxation and what the government uses it for
- in enterprise education, students might study how to write a business plan and assess financial risk
- in mathematics they can calculate the cost of taking different summer holidays
- students can look at the use of the Euro in modern foreign languages
- in geography, they could study the implications of our consumer choices on peoples' lives in other countries.
How it's supported
In April 2006 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - the independent body which regulates the finance industry - committed £17 million over five years to fund Learning Money Matters. In the first year significant contributions also came from Bank of America, AEGON and UBS.
The FSA's support is part of the schools strand of their National Strategy for Financial Capability. From September 2008 personal finance education will be an explicit part of the economic wellbeing and financial capability programme of study in the National Curriculum - the Schools Project helps to bridge the gap before this takes full effect.
By 2011 we will have made sure that finance education is ongoing in 4,000 secondary schools, giving 1.8 million students the opportunity to learn about money management in a way that works for them. Around 2000 schools have requested Learning Money Matters so far.
Across the regions
The FSA's finding has financed five regional pfeg offices - in London and the South East, the North West, the North East, South West and Central England. These have more than 20 full time expert consultants and 26 freelancers working with schools to plan and deliver financial education.
Wherever you are, there's a pfeg consultant in your area - and because they're local they know about the educational issues relevant to you.
