Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Deferred
Paragraph: 38
Make regulations for compulsory personal and societal financial education in schools.
Recommendation
The Secretary of State should make regulations, using powers under section 35 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, to provide for the personal and societal elements of financial education to be taught compulsorily in schools.
Government Response Summary
The government stated that existing RSHE and maths curricula already include complementary financial education content and that schools are free to teach more. It will consider consultation responses for RSHE guidance and await the outcomes of the wider Curriculum and Assessment Review before setting out next steps, effectively deferring a decision on compulsory financial education.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
Statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE)10 already includes content that complements financial education in the national curriculum for maths and citizenship. Through RSHE pupils are taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt. Pupils also learn how data is generated, collected, shared and used online; for example, how personal data is captured on social media or understanding the way that businesses may exploit the data available to them. These are important skills for pupils to have in a financial context, especially with the increasing digitalisation of money and the associated risks online. Schools are free to teach additional financial education as part of Personal, Social, Economic and Health education. The Department for Education is currently carrying out further engagement on the RSHE statutory guidance11. The Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools and, as such, the government will look carefully at the consultation responses, discuss with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence, before setting out next steps. The CAR is looking at the whole of the curriculum and how it fits together to ensure that there is space for schools to provide a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative, that readies young people for life and work, and reflects the diversities of our society. The government is legislating so that, following the CAR and the implementation of reforms, all mainstream state schools will be required to teach the revised national curriculum. This will give parents certainty over the core of their children’s education.