Context
The Money Advice Service required research into the level, scale and type of education being delivered across secondary schools and colleges in England. The purpose of the research was to provide findings to inform the Money Advice Service’s future strategy, as well as to review the support it provides to schools, to ensure all children and young people in England receive a meaningful financial education. The research aimed to discover the percentage of state secondary schools and colleges that are delivering some form of financial education and to explore how they are delivering it. It also aimed to gain a better understanding of the types of schools that are more or less likely to deliver financial education, as well as to discover the reasons that financial education may not be being delivered in some schools, and to identify the barriers stopping it.
The study
The Money Advice Service commissioned IFF Research to undertake the study. The research involved both quantitative and qualitative research, although this report only discusses the findings of the quantitative research. From February to July 2018, IFF Research undertook 558 interviews with schools; 356 were state schools and colleges, and 202 were independent schools. Nearly half (46%) of respondents were deputy head teachers and 21% were head teachers. The rest were department heads or directors of studies.
Key findings
The financial education being delivered:
- The study found that all of the schools or colleges that IFF Research surveyed delivered some form of financial education. Schools and colleges were most likely to teach financial numeracy/calculations (92%), and teach skills for day-to-day money management. Schools and colleges least commonly taught learners about where they can get financial advice and when (43%) as well as give learners experience of financial planning/budgeting (40%).
- Although schools or colleges in England deliver a range of different types of financial education, they are not delivered that frequently (usually once or twice a term or year).
- The study found that pupils in Years 9 to 11 are most likely to receive financial education.
- It also found that schools or colleges usually teach financial education to all learners in the year groups that receive it, rather than targeting the education to individual pupils.
How financial education is delivered:
- The research found that schools or colleges in England tend to integrate financial education into existing subject lessons, rather than deliver it on its own. 96% of schools or colleges integrated financial education into existing subject lessons, most commonly in Maths (76%), PSHE (57%), and Business studies (45%). Only 16% of schools and colleges integrated it into Citizenship.
- Just under a third (31%) of schools or colleges delivered financial education as a subject in its own right.
- In these cases, teaching staff without specific training or qualifications were most likely (88%) to deliver financial education. Just under two thirds of schools (61%) made use of external specialists (especially those from the finance sector).
The support that schools need:
- 92% of schools or colleges considered it part of their role to help their learners develop financial skills, suggesting that most schools or colleges seem to be committed to the concept of delivering financial education.
- Nearly three quarters (72%) of schools or colleges that offered some kind of financial education said they would like to increase their provision.
- The main barriers to delivering more financial education are:
- Lack of time in timetables (50%);
- Lack of flexibility in the curriculum (34%);
- The cost of delivery (32%);
- Fear of not having the necessary skills or knowledge (28%).
- Only 59% of schools or colleges felt that they had the necessary skills and knowledge to support their learners to develop financial skills, indicating that more is needed to upskill teachers.
- In addition, less than half (49%) had a good understanding of the external agencies that provide money advice or financial education and were able to signpost learners to them.
- Overall the study found that there is a need for guidance and support to help schools or colleges to understand what resources or knowledge is available, and to provide skills or expertise.
- The study also found that financial education provision is rarely subject to formal evaluation.
Points to consider
Methodological limitations:
- The response rate to the telephone survey was lower than the researchers hoped for.
- Often the responses given by original ‘gatekeepers’ at schools, relating to whether or not their school offered any financial education, were different to that of the end respondent.
Generalisability/ transferability:
- The survey over-represented colleges slightly, and under-represented academies and free schools.
