Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve financial education in schools.

Financial education currently forms a compulsory part of the National Curriculum for mathematics (at key stages 1 to 4) and citizenship (at key stages 3 and 4). The primary mathematics curriculum includes arithmetic knowledge that supports pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, calculations with money and percentages. In secondary mathematics, pupils are taught topics such as how to calculate compound interest, which is relevant for personal finance. In citizenship, pupils are taught the function and uses of money, how to budget and manage credit and debt, as well as concepts like insurance, savings and pensions.

High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. The government‘s ambition is for a broad, rich and cutting-edge curriculum that equips children and young people with the essential knowledge and skills required to thrive as citizens, in work and throughout life. That is why the department has established an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The review will seek to deliver an excellent foundation in the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics, and a broader curriculum that readies young people for life and work, and reflects the diversities of our society. The review group ran a call for evidence, receiving over 7000 responses, and held events over the autumn term to gather the views of education professionals and other experts, parents, children and young people, and other stakeholders. The feedback received will help the review group to consider its next steps and recommendations. The review group will publish an interim report early in 2025 setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work and the final report with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025.