Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to educate young people on emerging financial trends, including crypto currencies and buy now, pay later schemes.

Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed. Pupils receive financial education through the national curriculum for mathematics and citizenship. For secondary school-aged pupils, this includes compulsory content covering the functions and uses of money, financial products and services, and the need to understand financial risk, including any emerging financial trends. Schools have flexibility over how they design their curriculum and can tailor it to the needs of their pupils.

The Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England during Talk Money Week (8-12 November 2021). The guidance includes links to quality assured resources for schools, including content and activities on cryptocurrencies and buy now, pay later schemes. It also sets out the knowledge and skills pupils need to protect their personal data, critically evaluate online content, and identify scams. The guidance is available to view here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.

There are other opportunities across the national curriculum to teach pupils about cryptocurrencies. For example, the computing curriculum teaches the fundamental knowledge and skills that support pupils to make well-informed choices about technology. It covers the principles of e-safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that young people face. The computing curriculum is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.

The department will continue to work closely with the MAPS and other relevant parties such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to support the teaching of financial education to children and young people, including novel financial products.

Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework has a strong emphasis on schools providing a broad, balanced, and ambitious curriculum for all pupils, as exemplified by the national curriculum. Inspectors undertake deep dives into several specific subjects during inspection and this will include mathematics and citizenship for some schools.