Martin Lewis financial education textbook rolled out to 700 schools across the UK

@YoungMoneyEdu : Over the next 15 months @MoneySavingExp and @MartinSLewis are rolling out the first ever financial education textbook to hit Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Today, Young Money announces the launch of the first ever financial education textbook to hit schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Over 45,000 books will be sent free to schools over the next 14 months, as well as an accompanying teacher’s guide (available digitally). The textbook will also be available as a free PDF download to anyone who wants it.

This launch follows the successful roll-out of the textbook in England. In November 2018 340,000 copies of the very first financial education textbook in the UK, ‘Your Money Matters’, were delivered into English secondary schools. This was funded by Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, with a personal donation of £325,000 to the financial education charity Young Money to develop and distribute this milestone resource and accompanying teacher’s guide.

Aimed at supporting the financial capability of those aged 15 to 16, the reality is that the textbook has been used across multiple year groups and within a wide range of subject areas.

Since being delivered into every state-funded secondary school in England, the Money and Pensions Service funded an evaluation of the impact that Your Money Matters has had:

• 89% of teachers said that Your Money Matters would improve the quality of financial education in their schools.
• 88% of teachers said the textbook would increase their confidence to deliver financial education.

Subject Head at a Community school, said:

‘Excellent resource! Much needed for youngsters. We are very grateful to have received the textbooks and received excellent feedback from students. One student told me that our Financial Capability lessons changed the way her parents look at finances and motivated them to change the way they deal with money as a family.’

A Year 12 student, commented:

‘It’s so broad as well – if you want a general outline it is perfect for that. I actually brought one home so I could look through the university stuff. My older brother wanted to know about a work pension… I said ‘I have this textbook’ so he looked at that. He found it useful – it had the general information that he needed.’

Following the success that Your Money Matters has received in England, the Money and Pensions Service and Martin Lewis are splitting the cost of the £368,000 project, funding Young Money to develop versions of the textbook for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. State-funded secondary schools in each nation will receive both printed and digital copies of their textbook over the next 14 months:

Northern Ireland – January 2021 (12,000 copies in total)

Scotland – March 2021 (21,500 copies in total)

Wales – September 2021 (12,500 copies in total)

What is in the textbook?

The educational textbook contains facts and information as well as interactive activities and questions for the students to apply their knowledge. The chapters are as follows:

1. Savings – ways to save, interest, money and mental health
2. Making the most of your money – budgeting, keeping track of your budget, ways to pay, value for money, spending
3. Borrowing – debt, APR, borrowing products, unmanageable debt
4. After school, the world of work – student finance, apprenticeships, earnings, tax, pensions, benefits
5. Risk and reward – investments, gambling, insurance
6. Security and fraud – identify theft, online fraud, money mules

Whilst the key financial topics will remain largely the same, a review in each nation, consisting of focus groups with teachers and devolved government representatives for education, is being conducted to identify the amendments required. This will ensure that the textbook in each nation maps to the respective education curriculum as well as taking into account the specific needs and financial legislation in each country.

Once complete, up to 75 copies will be delivered for free into every secondary school in each nation.

Why do we need the textbook?

Financial education is part of the national curriculum for every nation in the UK. Whilst integrated into each curriculum in different ways, it is an important part of secondary school education. Various pieces of research have identified that teachers’ confidence in delivering financial education is relatively low – there is little training provided to support this – and the degree to which young people receive financial education in school is hugely variable.

The textbook addresses this by covering key financial information in a relevant and engaging way for students. To accompany the textbook there will be an online teacher’s guide which will support teachers in each nation to use the textbook to enrich their own financial education provision in a variety of ways.

There is a strong need to help young people understand financial matters. For example, fewer than three in ten 14 to 17-year-olds plan ahead for how they’ll buy things they need, and one in ten 16 to 17-year-olds have no bank account at all. Gaining knowledge and confidence in financial issues is crucial to leading to better decisions now and in later life.

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert (though donating in a personal capacity) comments:

“The pandemic has shown the lack of personal financial resilience and preparedness of the UK as a whole. Not all of that can be fixed by improving financial education, but a chunk of it can. Of course, we need to educate people of all ages, yet young people are professionals at learning, so if you want to break the cycle of debt and bad decisions, they’re the best place to start.

I was one of those at the forefront of the campaign to get financial education on the national curriculum in 2014, and we celebrated then thinking the job was done. We were wrong. Schools have struggled with resources and there’s been little teacher training. Something else was needed to make it easy for schools and teachers. So even though I questioned whether it’s right that a private individual should fund a textbook, no one else would do it, so I put pragmatics over politics and did it in 2018.

I’m delighted that now we’ve proved the success of that book in England. The Money and Pensions Service has agreed to team up to provide this much-needed resource for the rest of the UK’s nations – adding a rightful sense of officialdom to the whole project.”

Sharon Davies, CEO at Young Money and Young Enterprise comments:

“We are thrilled that Young Money is able to develop the Your Money Matters textbook for every UK nation. Financial education is critically important for all young people, and it is fantastic that the difference this has already made within England can now be extended to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We look forward to working with our partners in each of these nations over the next year.”

Sarah Porretta, Strategy and Insights Director at the Money and Pensions Service comments:

“We know that learning about money when we’re young can have a direct impact on the ability to manage money later in life. However, too many young people are entering adulthood without being prepared for the money-related challenges that lie ahead.

The launch of the Your Money Matters textbook in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland is a vital step towards more teachers having the confidence, skills and knowledge to teach financial education. As part of our UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, we want to see a further 2 million children and young people getting a meaningful financial education so that they become adults able to make the most of their money and pensions.”