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Children and Young People Financial Education Innovation and Evaluation Programme: Synthesis Report

Evidence type: Evaluation i

Description of the programme

The Money and Pensions Service designed the CYP Financial Education Innovation and Evaluation Programme to support delivery of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, by evaluating new and innovative, or existing but untested, financial education interventions. By doing this, the programme aimed to fill gaps in the understanding of effective financial education, in turn supporting the delivery of one of the Strategy’s five National Goals: to ensure that two million more CYP receive a meaningful financial education by 2030. The programme focused on three priority areas: children under the age of seven years, CYP in vulnerable circumstances, and digital delivery of financial education.

The programme was commissioned, delivered and evaluated between October 2020 and September 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The achievements of the seven pilot projects that took part in the programme need to be understood in this context, with over 10,000 CYP; 354 teachers and other practitioners; 145 schools; and 141 parents/carers engaged in financial education activities over the course of the programme.

The study

The seven pilot projects were evaluated individually, as well as the evaluation findings from all pilots being combined in a programme-level synthesis report.

While the pilot projects used different indicators to measure change, the high-level outcomes in the programme Theory of Change provided a framework by which to analyse the data from individual projects and understand the impact of the overall programme.

In synthesising the evidence, a realist approach was taken to identify what works, for whom, why, how and in what contexts.

Key findings

The seven pilots were evaluated individually, providing indicative and promising evidence that informed the achievement or otherwise of high-level outcomes in a programme-wide theory of change:

  • Short-term outcomes: For children and young people, there was evidence that the programme achieved the short-term outcome to increase awareness about positive money management.
    • For teachers and practitioners, there was evidence that the programme achieved the short-term outcome to increase confidence in delivering financial education.
  • Medium-term outcomes: It was not possible to measure these within the timeframe of the programme, although the evaluation considered that pilots had put in place the necessary foundations for achieving them, including applying new knowledge and skills, and changing children and young people’s money management behaviour.

What works:
Looking across the seven pilots, the evaluation synthesised evidence about how the projects worked, for whom and why – identifying four particular learnings:

  1. Storytelling is an effective way for teachers to deliver financial education for children under seven.
  2. Tailored and flexible resources are key when designing financial education for specific groups to ensure they are engaging, appropriate and relevant.
  3. Digital delivery must be considered as a key component of delivering financial education.
  4. Sufficient lead-in time (ideally two terms, for schools) is needed for financial education to be incorporated into existing structures and for teachers and practitioners to familiarise and plan their financial education delivery.

Points to consider

  • Methodological strengths/weaknesses: The short timescales for delivery and evaluation meant it was only possible to evaluate short-term outcomes for most of the seven pilots.
    • The sample sizes for both quantitative and qualitative data collection were generally smaller than expected, which limited the conclusions that could be drawn from the data.
  • Relevance: The evaluation is of interest to anyone developing financial education for children and young people, with a specific focus on children younger than seven, vulnerable CYP and the digital delivery of financial education.

Key info

Year of publication
2022
Country/Countries
England, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Contact information

Ecorys UK and the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol