Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making the enterprise and financial education aspect of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education a mandatory requirement of the curriculum.

Financial education is part of the mathematics and citizenship curriculum where pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and the need to understand financial risk. The mathematics curriculum ensures pupils are taught the necessary knowledge and the need to make financial decisions. The computing curriculum should prepare pupils to apply existing digital technologies confidently and effectively, whilst also providing them with the fundamental knowledge needed to create new digital technology products.

The Department will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and other stakeholders, such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be gained from other sector initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.