Changes in the national curriculum will mean children of all ages will be taught financial literacy
Financial education is set to become compulsory for all primary school pupils in England as part of an overhaul of the national curriculum which will also see secondary level provision extended.
In its response to the final report of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, both of which were published today (5 November), the government said it would introduce a new statutory requirement to teach Citizenship in key stages one and two from 2028 – saying the move would enable the introduction of learning in areas such as financial literacy into primary education.
It said these principles will be extended to the secondary core content to reflect the age range of pupils and will focus on more complex content, particularly the digital elements of financial literacy, such as fraud and scam prevention.
The final report of the curriculum review said that financial education was made compulsory in the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16-year-olds in 2014 – adding that young people also received some limited financial education through the maths curriculum. At primary level, it said the maths curriculum currently only promotes the use of financial contexts.
Despite this, it said evidence suggested that, in practice, the financial education content which already exists in the national curriculum is "not always taught", with only a third (33%) of children able to recall learning about money in school and finding it useful.
It said: "As a result, many young people are leaving education with low levels of financial capability."
In its response to the review's report, the government said: "It is essential that children and young people learn about the importance of money and how to manage it, early in their education."
The government said it agreed with the review that current references to financial education in the maths and citizenship programmes of study should be strengthened and the relevant content sequenced so that content can be applied to practical situations, context and problems.
As such, the government said that, when it reforms the programmes of study for maths and citizenship, it will ensure key concepts relevant to financial education, such as calculating interest, are first introduced in maths.
The government added: "Making citizenship compulsory in key stages one and two gives us the opportunity to strengthen pupils' foundational understanding of financial education at an early age and explore how citizenship can provide more opportunities to apply these concepts in a relevant context."
The government added it would also provide updated examples of good content to reflect the new curriculum.
TISA chief executive Carol Knight commented: "Teaching children about money is like explaining the rules of a game they're already playing; with greater understanding, they can take part with confidence rather than uncertainty. Children encounter spending, digital payments, advertising and influence before they can even spell money, and they deserve the tools to navigate those experiences. This review rightly recognises that financial education is a core life skill, not an optional extra. TISA strongly welcomes the decision to include it as a compulsory part of the primary curriculum – something we have long been calling for."
Financial education charity Money Ready also welcomed the recommendations. Chief executive Leon Ward said: "We at Money Ready are thrilled by the news that the Curriculum Review will recommend compulsory financial education from 2028. It's a milestone moment for everyone working to make financial literacy a core part of learning."
Financial Inclusion Strategy
The move coincides with the publication of the government's Financial Inclusion Strategy, which sets out the government's approach to improving financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK.
As part of this strategy, the government said the Financial Conduct Authority had published a regulatory statement to give employers and savings providers the clarity and confidence they need to offer workplace savings as a benefit to their employees.
And it said the Money and Pensions Service, The Investing and Saving Alliance, and Nest Insight would bring together "a national coalition of employers" to further encourage the take-up of payroll savings,
Independent Governance Group head of policy and external affairs Lou Davey commented: "The plan to roll out payroll savings more widely is a welcome step and deploys the very best learnings from the pension industry's hugely successful auto enrolment, tapping into the inertia of employees.
"Measures that encourage greater saving across society, to boost financial resilience both in the short term and long term can only be a good thing. Developing stronger savings habits has the potential to help close the retirement inequalities that we see, particularly for women and minority groups that are so often falling behind. Measures must be structured to support saving in the context of modern working patterns, including the disrupted working patterns of those with caring responsibilities."
She added: "Couple payroll savings with the measures to improve financial literacy in primary schools means that we are taking positive steps to building a savings culture that can help people get ahead of some of the biggest challenges that they face, both with having access to short term savings, as well as growing a healthy retirement pot for their future."
UK economy boost
The publication of the curriculum review and the government's Financial Inclusion Strategy comes as Principal Asset Management published its 2025 Global Financial Inclusion Index showing that the UK was now the 10th most financially inclusive market out of 42 it analysed globally.
Principal said the UK's one place improvement in the rankings overall (last year it was 11th out of 41 countries) was driven by improvements in government support and financial system support pillars
It said for government support around financial inclusion, the UK rose two places in the rankings to 16th, driven by improvements in consumer championing regulations (up six places), awareness and uptake of government-mandated pensions/savings (up six places), and availability of government-provided financial education (up five places).
And, while it said the UK continued to be ranked 8th for support from the financial system, its score rose by 0.4 points, underpinned by improvements in a number of key indicators: enabling of business confidence (up seven places); enabling SME growth and success (up five places); and borrowers' and lenders' protection rights (up four places).
Principal said the data suggested the overall improvement in the UK's financial inclusion is being felt by its population - noting that the proportion of the UK population who say they feel financially included has increased from 59.4% last year to 67.6% this year.
Chief global strategist Seema Shah said: "The UK government can confidently say that its efforts to make its society more financially inclusive are having an impact and, according to the data, are being felt by the electorate."
Principal Asset Management added that improving financial literacy would boost the UK economy and lower default rates on household debt.
It said that econometric modelling conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research as part of its research found that, on a global basis:
- A 1 percentage point improvement in financial literacy levels is associated with a 2.78 percentage point reduction in defaults on household loans.
- A 1 percentage point improvement in financial literacy levels results in significantly increased loan affordability and is associated with a 6.7 percentage point reduction in debt-to-income ratios. Correspondingly, a 10 percentage point increase in financial literacy is associated with a two-thirds fall in debt-to-income ratio.
- A 10 percentage point improvement in financial literacy levels could generate a 0.3 percentage point improvement in the rate of GDP growth—over and above the expected growth rate—after a four-year period.
