Tiner’s announcement follows increasing pressure from the ifs School of Finance and other organisations to ensure that all schools are compelled to offer students the option of studying for a qualification in personal finance - in the same way that students have the option to study history, geography and modern foreign languages.
John Tiner said, “To create a more self standing society in the future, young people will need basic levels of financial competence as they make key money decisions earlier in their lives and I would hope that Ed [Balls], in his new role as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, will be able to ask his new colleagues to find room for financial education on the mandatory core curriculum at the earliest opportunity.”
Gavin Shreeve, Chief Executive of the ifs School of Finance, said:
“We are delighted that the FSA have recognised that financial education needs to have a much stronger place in the curriculum than the current non-statutory arrangements.
As the only provider of GCSE, AS and A level equivalent qualifications in personal finance, we know what an incredibly positive difference these qualifications make to the financial capability of young people. Independent research from the University of Manchester concluded that 95% of students taking an ifs course were able to manage their own finances effectively as a result of what they had learned on the course.
The research also backed up existing evidence that that a specifically designated course, where students know that its total aims relate to areas of financial management, is more effective than courses which cover a wide range of areas.
Adding personal finance to the list of qualification options at age 14 would give financial education an equal footing with a wide range of other subjects and lead to a step change in the number of young people leaving school with the necessary skills to manage their own finances effectively.”
