Hargreaves Lansdown has partnered with the University of Bristol to provide a financial wellbeing course for its students.

The launch follows a successful pilot with 70 University of Bristol students in April 2024.

Hargreaves Lansdown has built five custom-built modules which will be offered to 150 students from the university starting this month.

Students who enrol on the HL Financial Wellbeing course will learn how to create a smart spending plan, tools to make their money work harder, and how to build good money habits.

The content has been tailor-made for students, structured on Hargreaves Lansdown’s ‘5 to Thrive’ framework, the five key building blocks for financial resilience. There are five modules which will be delivered as a blended learning experience.

The course will also cover what core employee benefits to look out for when entering the world of work, as well as the role of investments when it comes to growing wealth.

The cost-of-living crisis has seen price rises across food, travel, accommodation and utilities rise faster than student loan facilities, with three in 10 UK students taking on new debt to cover the costs according to the Office for National Statistics.

Clare Stinton, head of workplace saving analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the course will help students navigate the transition to financial responsibility.

She said: “Many young people have been largely left in the dark when it comes to managing money, because despite the introduction of financial education to the national curriculum in 2014, six in ten young adults can’t recall receiving any during their time at school. Leaving such essential knowledge up to chance, often determined by postcode, does not equip the next generation with the tools needed to start adult life on the right financial foot.”

The course has been launched as part of the University of Bristol’s wider student wellbeing package of financial support for students.

A post-doctoral researcher funded by the University will measure the effectiveness of the financial wellbeing course, with a long-term ambition of making the short-skill course available to all 25,000 undergraduate students on an opt-in basis.

Hargreaves Lansdown is headquartered in Bristol and also works with 31 employers on financial wellbeing for employees through the Bristol Financial Resilience Action Group.