Future Skills by Wealthify
Overview
In September 2023, Wealthify partnered with Young Enterprise to launch Future Skills – a program to enhance financial literacy among young people in the UK. It provides free downloadable resources for teachers to help 16 to 18-year-olds develop positive financial habits for life.
What is Future Skills?
Across the UK, there are limited opportunities for young people to learn about money before they reach financial independence. Fewer than 50% of children say they have received financial education, despite it being on the school curriculum for nearly a decade.
Future Skills offers four free, video-led teaching modules for 16 to 18-year-olds, featuring TikTok stars Maddie Grace Jepsen and Kyron Hamilton in a fictional news program called The Bread Show (a play on the word money). Topics covered include:
These modules are supported by detailed, adaptable lesson plans and additional explainer content on the Future Skills hub.
What is changing in year 2?
Wealthify has partnered with Young Enterprise (YE) for a second year to review and optimise the Future Skills program. This partnership aims to:
The findings will be revealed this year.
Why Was Future Skills Created?
Wealthify recognised a need for improved financial literacy in the UK. Research with the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) showed that almost three quarters (73%) of the country fall below the Financial Literacy Benchmark. To address these issues, Wealthify sought to understand the challenges teachers face in financial education.
The Financial Hook
With Child Trust Funds (CTFs) maturing over the next six years, Wealthify identified a financial hook: the average matured value of a CTF was £2,000, yet fewer than half of 16 to 18-year-olds knew about their eligibility. This insight helped shape the Future Skills resources to be targeted at the age range reaching financial maturity, some of whom would have access to CTFs. Throughout the process with YE, we tested the resources with teachers. The below quotes highlight teachers’ responses to testing the final resources in select classrooms before the materials were launched UK wide.
Quotes from Teachers in Year 1
Teacher 1
“I thought that the resources provided, particularly the video, was just a really succinct way of just summarising the information. It was supported with the presentation that went into more detail and then had the specific links and QR codes to be able to research that more.”
Teacher 2
“So, the lesson on CTF was a useful resource. It had a PowerPoint and lesson plan. The PowerPoint is broken down with timings, which is really useful. The lesson plan tells you all the key aspects of what CTF is, it’s got inserts where you can put the video and it’s really useful because it explains what CTF is. Both the lesson plan and the PowerPoints are easy to use and the students would really gain from the lesson itself.”
Awards and Recognition
Following the successful first year of launch, Wealthify has been shortlisted for the 2024 CIPR Excellence Awards in:
Future Skills is a strategic initiative by Wealthify to empower the next generation with essential financial knowledge and skills, ensuring they are better prepared for their financial futures.
For more information: https://www.wealthify.com/future-skills
Call: 0800 802 1800
Press Inquiries: emma.robinson@wealthify.com