Financial Education Council

Background and Purpose

Our vision is to ensure that everyone receives a high-quality and effective financial education in order to promote good financial habits early on in life. The purpose of this group is to consider, advise and lead industry initiatives that improve the provision of financial education from primary school age to young adulthood and beyond. 

Previous evidence has shown that younger children aged 10–11 changed their financial habits following successful intervention in primary school. We understand that it shouldn’t stop here, as more recent studies have highlighted that many young people are still entering the world of work not being prepared for the money-related realities that lie ahead. This can lead to debt problems, affect their mental health and also find them suffering in the workplace.

Areas of focus

• Scope of the FEC defined to focus on education of young people up to the age of 26

• Current priorities age: Lobbying and influence of financial education to be included in the OFSTED curriculum, with support to schools and teachers to make this a practical reality; and Delivery of financial education via non-schools’ channels (e.g. sports and other community groups). These workstreams are being taken forwards by 3 distinct sub-groups. The Council is also surveying TISA members to understand the current financial education provision and support given by industry. This will help identify gaps and potential areas of future focus. TISA has also met with Jerome Mayhew MP, chair of the APPG on Financial Education. We shared details of TISA’s financial education priorities and secured support for an appearance at a future TISA event. 

• Supporting staff in the workplace with personal financial education, through training provision – we continue to support financial capability via this Essentials of Money Management (EOMM) programme which to date has targeted early careers but is now able to be tailored to all life stages therefore supporting whole workforce financial wellbeing. In response to member requests, we have developed an additional programme that equips staff with the knowledge, confidence and enthusiasm to run Money Management workshops in their communities.

• The FEC has written to over 140 primary schools in the Greater Manchester area highlighting the benefits of financial education and sharing free resources to help schools and teachers deliver financial education. We have also engaged with local MPs and the Mayor of Manchester on this work and to continue to build momentum to get every child a meaningful financial education at school.

Structure of Meetings

The Financial Education Committee meets quarterly, the TISA lead in this area is Sophie Legrand-Green, Head of Policy: Consumer Protection & Access at TISA. 

Achievements of the Group 

• Working groups set up to progress the aforementioned priorities

• The FEC has written to the Prime Minister calling on him to make financial education compulsory in all schools. You can join our campaign by signing our Open Letter

• The FEC has written to over 140 primary schools in the Greater Manchester area highlighting the benefits of financial education and sharing free resources to help schools and teachers deliver financial education. We have also engaged with local MPs and the Mayor of Manchester on this work and to continue to build momentum to get every child a meaningful financial education at school.

• On the International Day of Education (24/1/25), FEC issued a letter to over 140 Primary Schools in Greater Manchester with resources to support them with teaching financial education in the classroom. The Toolkits are available here: Financial Education Toolkits – TISA

• TISA successfully launched its first training initiative on The Essentials of Money Management, which is aimed at providing people with the tools and confidence to make sense of everyday money matters, including budgeting, saving, investing and borrowing.  The programme has been piloted and is in rollout to work places, and is being further developed to use in a broader set of audiences in the community.

 

A J Bell
Aberdeen Group
Aviva Investors
Bank of Ireland (UK) PLC
Baringa Partners LLP
Blackrock Investment Management (UK) Limited
BNY Pershing
CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Columbia Threadneedle Investments EMEA
Coutts
Cushon
Enterprise Investment Scheme Association
Equiniti Financial Services Limited
Evelyn Partners
Fidelity International
Forester Life
Freetrade Limited
GoHenry
Interactive Brokers (U.K.) Limited
Invesco
James Hambro
Janus Henderson

L & G plc
NEST
OneFamily
Rathbones
RBC Brewin Dolphin
Schroders PLC
Scottish Widows Plc
Shawbrook Bank
St James Place Wealth Management
Tesco Bank
The Charity Bank Ltd
The Tracing Group
Vanguard Asset Management Ltd
WEALTH at work

Observers

Money & Pensions Service (MAPS)

Sophie Legrand-Green, Head of Policy: Consumer Protection & Access leads on this work

Financial Education publications

Financial Education news