A message from MyBnk CEO, Leon Ward
Yesterday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to extend maths teaching until age 18.
His plan includes extending maths education for all school pupils, although it will not be compulsory to study the subject at A-level.
Back in January when provisional plans were first announced, former MyBnk CEO Guy Rigden joined other sector leaders to call for financial education to be included as part of this review.
Yesterday, we welcomed the Prime Minister’s reference to the positive impact of improved numeracy on financial capability. However, the extent to which personal finance will feature in the new maths curriculum is still unclear. So I joined Vanessa Feltz and Charlie Mullins to discuss the need for practical maths education, live on TalkTV.
The Prime Minister announced that a group of advisers, including mathematicians and business representatives, will examine the “core maths content” taught in schools and consider the need for a new maths qualification. This is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that maths reflects the real-world context, including managing money and developing key habits and mindsets, such as delaying gratification and planning ahead.
However, the implementation of this will not be without challenge, not least due to recruitment and retention challenges in the teaching workforce. And we have found that teachers often don’t have the time or expertise to teach personal finance lessons that are useful to young people.
MyBnk stands ready to share our insights from 16 years of educating young people about money, including conclusions and recommendations from our upcoming whitepaper with Compare the Market, which will launch in May. We also stand ready to support developing the skills of the teaching workforce should personal financial education be a critical strand of this policy.
Find out more about our work.
