Asked by: Lord Cruddas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 19 February (HL2185), what steps they are taking to ensure financial literacy education is actually reaching the most disadvantaged students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is crucial that all pupils are equipped with the knowledge and tools to manage their finances well in later life. That is why financial education is embedded in the national curriculum for mathematics at key stages 1 to 4, and in citizenship at key stages 3 and 4.
The national curriculum is compulsory for maintained schools, but all schools are measured by Ofsted on having a broad and balanced curriculum which is comparable to the national curriculum. As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools can choose how to teach financial education and they can tailor what they teach to make sure all pupils are taught what they need to know.
The Levelling Up White Paper identified 55 Education Investment Areas where the department will implement a package of measures to drive school improvement and accelerate progress towards the department’s 2030 ambition that 90% of pupils meet the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of primary school and that the average mathematics and English GCSE grade increases to a 5.
There is a range of financial education support for schools. For example, Oak National Academy, an Arm’s Length Body, has published its initial mathematics resources, with the full curriculum available by this autumn. As part of this, Oak is exploring including additional lessons in real life mathematics. Secondary citizenship resources will become available from autumn 2024 and will be complete by autumn 2025. The Money and Pensions Service has published guidance for schools and there is specialist support for fraud and tax education from the Home Office and HMRC respectively.
The department also works closely with the Money and Pensions Service which exists to help people make the most of their money and pensions, particularly those most in need and those most vulnerable to financial insecurity. The Money and Pensions Service has invested £1.1 million in financial education programmes to support children and young people in vulnerable circumstances and has published guidance to help children and young people's services to embed financial wellbeing into the services they offer.
Asked by: Lord Cruddas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 19 February (HL2185), whether they plan to undertake a detailed review of the teaching of financial literacy in Denmark, Norway and Sweden with a view to updating the mathematics national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has no plans to undertake a detailed review of the teaching of financial literacy in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The department continues to work closely with HM Treasury and the Money and Pensions Service to monitor the evidence base for financial education to understand what works and what further support schools may need.
In order to provide stability for schools and to enable them to remain focused on raising standards of literacy and numeracy and recovery from the pandemic, the government has committed to making no changes to the national curriculum for the remainder of the Parliament.
The current mathematics curriculum in England already provides young people with the mathematical knowledge that underpins their ability to make important financial decisions. Mathematics is compulsory in maintained schools and academies must teach a broad and balanced curriculum, including mathematics. Since 2014, the department has reformed the mathematics curriculum and examinations system, bringing teaching practice from high-performing jurisdictions from across East Asia to primary and secondary schools in England.
International comparison studies of school-aged pupils show that England performs above the international averages for mathematics for all age groups. Before the pandemic, England achieved its highest ever mathematics score in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study international test for year five pupils.
Ofsted’s latest mathematical subject report in 2023 stated that primary mathematics education has seen "a resounding, positive shift" with curriculum sitting "at the heart of leaders' decisions and actions", whilst secondary mathematics education has seen "notable improvements" in curriculum guidance and professional development.
Asked by: Lord Cruddas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 19 February (HL2185), what proportion of (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools the Maths Hubs’ Teaching for Mastery programme has reached in the light of the targets mentioned in the Answer to reach 75 per cent of primary schools and 65 per cent of secondary schools by 2025.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As of February 2024, 69.7% of open primary schools (11,680) and 57.7% of open secondary schools (1,970) have participated in at least one year of the Teaching for Mastery Programme.