Financial literacy education has been part of the Secondary School curriculum in England in some form since 2010, and should, by 2023, have resulted in a generation of young adults who leave school proficient in the skills which will allow them to manage their finances and make rational decisions about money. This study aims to investigate the extent to which the curriculum and teaching of financial literacy in English secondary schools is actually preparing young people for their life after school. The study collected evidence about what young people know, using semi-structured interviews with individuals who interact with young adults in some capacity in their working roles and are in a position to form an opinion of their levels of financial literacy. The study also aims to understand factors which impact on the teaching and learning of financial literacy in education and solicits views on the possible content of the curriculum for Key Stage 3 and 4.The study uses Stakeholder Theory to inform the selection of participants and to discuss the interaction between the various stakeholders in financial literacy education. The findings show that stakeholders believe that young people are not equipped to manage their finances after they leave education and that there is a gap between the skills young people should have based on the school curriculum, and those which they actually demonstrate in practice. There is a consensus view that that fundamental financial management skills appear to be missing. The study relates this shortfall to literature around Learning Theory which shows that practical engagement the curriculum will encourage learning to take place. The recommendations are that the financial literacy curriculum in KS3 and 4 should be scaled back, to focus on the development of key underlying skills, rather than covering the broad range of topics currently included, and that the delivery should focus on real life examples and case studies, to make it more memorable.
| Date of Award | 12 Aug 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Andrew Jenkins (Main Supervisor) & Tarek Metwally (Co-Supervisor) |
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