Last month, Wealthify launched Future Skills to help improve financial literacy among young people in the UK. The core of Future Skills is our set of free downloadable resources for teachers to use to help 16 to 18-year-olds form positive lifelong financial habits.
As a platform that aims to make investing accessible to all, we already knew that financial literacy was not at the level it should be in the UK. But, after conducting research with the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), we realised that the problem might be worse than we thought.
Our research found that only 5% of the country could answer all 10 questions about frequently discussed financial topics correctly. Even more worryingly, young people on the cusp of financial independence (aged 16 to 18) could only answer 2 out of 10 questions correctly.
To make a meaningful contribution to tackling this issue, we knew we had to find out what teachers thought the issues were with financial education — and what they really needed to deal with them.
With Young Enterprise, we spoke to over 100 teachers of 16 to 18-year-olds across the UK, and one thing quickly became apparent: teachers do not have the time or resources to instil healthy money habits as part of classroom education.
We knew we also needed to find the financial hook to get 16 to 18-year-olds engaged. With Child Trust Funds (CTFs) maturing over the next six years (the average matured value being £2,100), and 51% of 16 to 18-year-olds being unaware of them, we found that hook.
The outcome was Future Skills: a set of resources designed for teachers to be able to use flexibly within the limited time they have, and to be accessible and exciting for teenagers.
We have produced four free-to-use video-led teaching modules aimed at 16 to 18-year-olds, featuring TikTok stars, Maddie Grace Jepsen, and Kyron Hamilton.
The pair present Future Skills’ fictional news programme, The Bread Show. Delivering financial information and tips in a way that resonates with 16 to 18-year-olds, the result is a resource that feels fresh, informative, and relevant to their age group and life stage.
Teaching young people how to check if they are eligible for a CTF – and how to find it – formed the basis of our resources, followed by helping them plan what they want from their money, how to manage a lump sum, and form good money habits for life. These video modules are also accompanied by detailed, adaptable lesson plans for teachers to use however best suits their students’ needs, as well as additional explainer content on the Future Skills hub.
Teacher feedback for Future Skills so far has been incredible. Our aim is to get these resources into as many teachers’ hands as possible, as quickly as possible. We also want to make these tools as useful to teachers and young people as we can, by responding to their feedback and incorporating their suggestions going forwards. And we want to work with others in this field to continue to improve financial literacy levels across the UK.
Other Member Updates:
