As GoHenry continues its push for financial education to be made compulsory in all primary schools, CEO and co-founder, Louise Hill, gave oral evidence to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into strengthening financial education in England this morning.

Also giving evidence were representatives from the Association for Citizenship Teaching, PSHE Association, NAHT, MyBnk, Young Enterprise and Santander. Louise's evidence focused on the following recommendations for how financial education could play a more prominent role in schools:

• Financial education needs to be taught from primary school age as that is when it’s proven to have the biggest effect.

• Teaching must be consistent to all young people regardless of the type of school they attend or the geographic and social background they come from.

• It needs to be statutory and have some form of assessment to create a level playing field for all children.

There was agreement among all panelists that teachers are already under immense pressure to teach a wide range of subjects, so changes must be made to ensure financial education is given the space it needs to make a lasting impact on all young people in schools. 

Today’s evidence session follows GoHenry's long-standing push to level up financial education in the UK, with its Parliament petition to #makemoneycount recently reaching 10K signatures, meaning it is awaiting a formal response from the Government. GoHenry has worked with experts and industry campaigners to push for change and better equip the next generations with vital money skills, including holding roundtables on the topic both in Parliament and the Welsh Senedd. GoHenry is also a member of The Centre for Financial Capability, backing the charity’s push for every child to be supported to develop the skills necessary to navigate critical financial decisions in later life, starting at primary school.

Louise Hill, co-founder and CEO of GoHenry, said: “Having a consistent financial education programme in all schools could transform the financial futures of young people and the wider economy. The fact that this doesn’t exist is a betrayal of an entire generation of young people in England; they have been completely left behind. Now is the time for the Government to take action and seriously prioritise the practical money skills children need to navigate real-world finance successfully and I hope the Education Select Committee will be making strong recommendations to that end.”

The full evidence session can be viewed here. To show your support for financial education in primary schools, you can sign GoHenry’s petition here.