- Nearly 70% of UK adults say better financial education would have increased their ability to manage their finances as the cost of living rises1
- Over two thirds (68%) of parents believe teaching children about money should start young and be on the primary school curriculum
- Santander UK and Twinkl CEOs visit Hazelbury Primary School in Edmonton, north London, to launch a new Financial Education Recognition Scheme for UK schools – the first of its kind. Watch the scheme launch at Hazelbury Primary School – Santander and Twinkl | Financial Education Recognition Scheme | School Launch - YouTube
- Santander and Twinkl want financial education to reach statutory status in England’s primary school curriculum in a way that fully supports teachers
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Santander UK and international online educational publisher Twinkl have launched the Financial Education Recognition Scheme for UK schools that commit to teaching financial education each year.
Over two thirds (68%) of parents believe teaching children about money should start young and be on the primary school curriculum, demonstrating the importance of recognising schools that actively participate in, and encourage the teaching of, financial education.
Hazelbury Primary School is the first school to join the Financial Education Recognition Scheme. The launch, which took place this week, saw Mike Regnier, CEO, Santander UK and Jonathan Seaton, CEO and Co-founder, Twinkl Educational Publishing, hosting a lesson in financial education to a classroom of 9 and 10 year-olds.
There is increasing evidence of the need for better financial education. Three in four (75%) of adults in the UK said that they received either inadequate or non-existent financial education at school, and over two thirds (69%) believe that better financial education would have helped them manage their money better with the current increases in the cost of living. There are strong links between financial literacy and poverty with 46% of those suffering from financial difficulties citing poor money management skills as a contributing factor2.
Since 2020, Santander UK has been working with Twinkl to deliver The Numbers Game – free, curriculum-friendly learning materials created by teachers, providing essential numeracy and financial education to help build money confidence in both primary and secondary schools.
Since 2022, The Numbers Game has been used by over 100,000 teachers within 8,300 schools and benefited an estimated 1.9 million children and young people across the UK.
Mike Regnier, Santander UK CEO, said: “We see daily the impact that poor money management can have on people’s lives and we are very proud of the work we are doing with Twinkl to bring about change. Our research shows the importance of financial education in shaping children’s futures and ensuring they can manage their finances confidently in adulthood.
“We have launched a Financial Education Recognition Scheme that will give the deserved credit to schools that participate in vital financial education for the next generation.
“We are committed to driving momentum in attaining statutory status for financial education on England’s primary school curriculum, and this is an important step on that journey.”
Jonathan Seaton, Twinkl CEO and co-founder, said: “Understanding money and how to manage it is a key skill used throughout life, and this is why we are so passionate about seeing this taught from an early age.
“We are really proud to have created these resources with Santander which bring the invaluable gift of financial education to classrooms in an easy, fun and engaging way, and I am excited to see that together we are recognising schools that make financial education a priority.
“We know teachers and schools have many pressures on them, and to thank and recognise them through this scheme is incredibly important.”
The research also showed that:
- 26% of adults aged 18-34 years said they received ‘sufficient’ financial education while at primary school, dropping to only 4% of those aged over 55 years. At secondary school these numbers rose to 29% and 6%.
- When asked about what money management they most wish they had been taught at school, the top answer from over half (52%) of adults was savings and pensions.
- And when asked what one piece of advice they would pass on to children around managing their money, the top answer was to not spend beyond your means.
- As well as managing the current increases to the cost of living more effectively, 57% of people believe they could have generally made better financial decisions with better financial education.
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Notes to Editors
1 The research was conducted by Opinium between 17th and 21st March 2023, polling a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults.
2 Centre for Social Justice 2022
Find out more about The Numbers Game here: Santander and Twinkl - Financial Education Resources
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. At 31 December 2022, the bank had around 19,000 employees and serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the FCA and the PRA in the UK. Santander UK plc customers’ eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS in the UK.
Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful presence in 10 core markets in the Europe, North America and South America regions, and is one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. Santander aims to be the best open financial services platform providing services to individuals, SMEs, corporates, financial institutions and governments. The bank’s purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising €220 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2030. In the first quarter of 2023, Banco Santander had €1.2 trillion in total funds, 161 million customers, 9,000 branches and 210,000 employees.
Twinkl was founded by husband and wife Jonathan and Susie Seaton in 2010 in Sheffield, with a mission ‘to help those who teach’. The company provides high quality, online learning materials and services, which are all teacher-created and checked. Twinkl offers over a million resources, with new content added daily. This ranges from schemes of work and assessments to augmented reality games and much more. Twinkl is used and trusted by schools and educators in over 200 countries and regions, including primary and secondary school teachers, nursery workers and parents. Twinkl has 1,400 team members based in its two Sheffield offices and remotely around the globe.
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