Secondary school pupils want to learn more about money

Children at secondary school feel they’d benefit from more financial education.

According to a Nationwide poll of 11 to 16-year-olds, almost three-quarters (73%) feel confident managing their money.

But two-thirds (66%) still don’t believe they’re being taught enough about financial matters to prepare for adult life.

And more than half (55%) said they consider money lessons among the most important subjects at school, ahead of science (26%) and computing (37%).

Poll finds significant knowledge gaps

Despite young people’s confidence when it comes to money, many were still found not to understand some fundamental financial concepts.

For instance, just one in three (11%) said they know what creating and sticking to a budget means.

Meanwhile, less than a quarter (23%) know what tax means and only one in ten (11%) understand what interest is.

Des’s story

We’ve seen for ourselves just how important financial education can be, often from people who wish they’d learned more about money when they were younger.

Des, for example, was overwhelmed by £25,000 of debt when he came to Money Wellness for help.

Today, his finances are back on track - but he believes his problems could have been avoided entirely if he’d received proper financial education.

One of Des’ debts was a business loan he’d been tricked into taking out as part of a Ponzi scheme, and he thinks that if he’d been taught more about money earlier on, he would never have fallen for it.

Des said: “When I look back on it, some of the struggles I had, especially when I married early and had kids, I didn’t know what half of the stuff meant, like mortgages… It should be taught - it’s the main thing in life.”

How could learning about money earlier changed your life?

Des isn’t alone in wishing he’d been taught about money earlier in life.

When we carried out a poll of people we support, nearly all of them (94%) said they didn’t get any financial education when they were younger.

But notably, two-fifths (80%) told us they think it would have made a difference.

And when we asked what particular topics would have helped them manage their money better, more than three-quarters (77%) said budgeting, followed by understanding credit and debt (68%) and how to save (62%).

Help is available for you

Financial education will become compulsory for all primary and school pupils in England from September 2028, and that’s a real step forward. 

But this change in the curriculum will come far too late for anyone who’s reading this article right now.

So if you’re struggling, then don’t delay reaching out and asking for help.

We can help you in areas like:

• creating a household budget
• dealing with your debts
• finding out what benefits you can claim