The Currency of Success - Investing in Our Students’ Financial Future
It is alarming that, according to research by MyBnk and Compare the Market, only two out of five young adults in the UK are considered financially literate. Even more concerning is that over 60% cannot recall receiving any meaningful financial guidance during their school years. Young people are entering a financial landscape that is radically different from the one their parents navigated. From cryptocurrency and ‘buy-now, pay-later’ schemes to the complexities of student loans, the environment is increasingly intricate and often unforgiving. As Martin Lewis, founder of Money Saving Expert, recently told a parliamentary committee, ‘Every child deserves to understand the financial landscape they're going into. We are creating a financial crisis of our time by not teaching this.’
This is not a new problem, but it is one that requires renewed urgency. The Times has recently launched a campaign to raise awareness for this vital topic and it is an initiative I am delighted to support. Yet the political will has often lagged behind the need. As far back as 2006, Gordon Brown and Ed Balls campaigned for financial education to sit alongside the ‘3Rs’ as a statutory entitlement. More recently, Lord Blunkett has kept this drum beating and argued as Vice-Chair of the APPG on Financial Education that money management is critical to social mobility.
Fast forward to today and, while the national challenges remain, our response at Radnor House is clear. As part of our commitment to ‘Future Proofing’ within our educational ethos, we explicitly aim to fine-tune our students' financial awareness, so they are ready for the next stage of their journey. We do not view financial literacy as an optional extra but as a core life skill.
This preparation starts early and evolves as the students mature. We ignite the spark in Year 7 as we believe in learning by doing. Students take part in a practical Enterprise Project where they plan a business idea and manage a budget. This moves the concept of money from abstract numbers on a page to something tangible and teaches them the fundamental link between earnings, spending and saving.
As students prepare to leave the school the focus shifts to independence and facing the real world. Our Sixth Formers engage in dedicated sessions on Student Finance and Debt Management. We tackle the realities of living away from home by helping them understand payslips, tax and the cost of living. This ensures that when they walk out of our doors they are not just academically qualified but financially empowered.
In the end, we are preparing our students for the realities of adult life, and it is our responsibility to ensure they are equipped with practical financial knowledge. By prioritising financial literacy now, we are laying the groundwork for their future success.
