Financial education

Universal financial education – providing young people with the knowledge and experience to thrive in our highly competitive consumer economy – is vital for the future of our society, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has warned. Addressing an all-party group of MPs and peers at Parliament, Martin told them, loudly and plainly: we need financial education in EVERY school, for EVERY child.

Protecting and expanding access to cash and other essential banking services – such as affordable credit – must be a priority for the next Government, according to a new report published today (17 June). The Financial Inclusion Commission (FIC), the independent body of experts behind the report, also calls for more financial education – an issue MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) has long campaigned on.

Financial education should be taught on a compulsory basis in both primary and secondary schools in England, a cross-party group of MPs have finally said. MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has welcomed the Education Committee's new report – which has put forward many of his proposals – arguing that every child deserves to be properly equipped for independent financial life.

Teachers need to be "properly resourced" and supported to deliver much-needed financial education in schools, Martin Lewis has urged. Speaking to the House of Commons Education Committee, the MoneySavingExpert.com founder said getting personal finance on the national curriculum had proved a "pyrrhic victory" due to the lack of resources put into the subject.

Today, campaigning journalist Martin Lewis – founder of MoneySavingExpert.com and the Money & Mental Health Policy Institute charity, and the presenter of The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV – has been awarded a CBE for services to broadcasting and consumer rights in the Queen's New Year Honours.

The first-ever curriculum mapped financial education textbook – funded jointly by MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis and the Money and Pensions Service – has now landed in secondary schools in Scotland, following the successful roll-out of versions in England and Northern Ireland.

All children across the UK should be taught basic money skills in primary school by 2030, a cross-party group of MPs have said in a new report published today. This would include adding financial education to the primary national curriculum, as is already the case for secondary schools. 

Adults in England and Northern Ireland have worse financial literacy than those in many other developed countries – and a third can't work out the correct change from a shopping trip, according to a new report.

Half a million financial education textbooks will be given to schools in an initiative funded by MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis.

Sixth-formers will be offered practical maths courses that teach skills including working out interest, currency rates and profit margins from this week. It is however up to individual schools and colleges to decide to provide the course.