The House of Commons Education Committee has today launched an inquiry into ways to strengthen financial education in schools.

The inquiry will look into how financial education can be improved in primary, secondary and further education settings.

Financial education has been part of the national curriculum for secondary schools since 2014, but there have been campaigns to introduce it to the primary curriculum and to make a wider range of financial education topics compulsory.

The cross-party Committee will explore reasons why the subject is often overlooked and how well schools and teachers are supported to deliver it.

Quilter is one of the Financial Planning firms that has been campaigning for better financial education in schools.

Katja Oakley-Bell, personal finance expert at Quilter, said: “It’s well known that learning gets harder as we get older and with this in mind, we need to teach important life skills to children at an early age, and that includes money skills.

“With the cost-of-living crisis still impacting people’s day-to-day lives and inflation eroding people’s money, financial skills are more important than ever. And they are even more important as we transition to a cashless society where just a tap of your card or phone can fast deplete your wages.

“Teaching financial education in primary school might seem a little extreme, but research has shown that children as young as age seven to eleven can learn good money behaviours and gain skills like budgeting and deferred gratification. 

“The Government has repeatedly stated that the maths curriculum for primary schools will provide children with financial education. Unfortunately, maths is only one part of the puzzle as it’s doesn’t necessarily help children to make the right behavioural choices towards a balanced budget that allows them to save for their extended life or buy their first home instead of taking the next phone upgrade. This might seem a way off for primary school children, but these behaviours might be as simple as saving their pocket money to buy something they really want rather than spending it on sweets as they get it each week.

“Study after study has revealed terrifying statistics of the nation’s lack of financial capability. These should be acting as a very serious wakeup call that needs to be tacked at the root cause.

"The Financial Conduct Authority’s financial lives study of UK adults has revealed that 1.4 million adults are in ‘difficulty’ because they missed bill payments or credit commitments, and these difficulties often start from a young age. External cost-of-living factors don’t help but developing prioritisation and budgeting skills can.

“Financial education from a young age is a solution that has proven to work. Making it a compulsory part of the curriculum would mean that no matter what a child’s background is, they will have the opportunity to achieve a secure financial future. Helping the next generation to develop these vital skills should be a priority for any Government.

“The Education Committee inquiry into strengthening financial education is a positive step and we urge the Government to listen and act.”

The Committee has launched a call for evidence. Financial Planners can share their thoughts on the Committee's website at https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3283