Personal Finance Education: Effective Practice Guide for Schools

Overview & Synopsis

This document provides guidance on effective practice in delivering personal finance education in secondary schools. It is based on the findings from research carried out by NFER (the National Foundation for Educational Research) on behalf of pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) as part of an evaluation of Learning Money Matters (LMM). This guidance is aimed at those responsible for planning, co-ordinating and teaching personal finance education in their schools, but is useful to all those involved in supporting and delivering financial capability. It sets out: (1) The meaning of personal finance education and why it is important for young people to learn about it; (2) Two case studies of schools, which show how personal finance education can be delivered in two contrasting ways that lead to successful outcomes; (3) Effective practice suggestions regarding what to think about when planning the delivery of personal finance education lessons; (4) Effective practice in relation to deciding how personal finance education should be delivered within schools; (5) Effective practice in adopting the most appropriate teaching approaches which will keep students engaged in lessons and help them to achieve successful learning outcomes; (6) Effective practice in choosing, developing and adapting resources to use when teaching personal finance education; (7) Effective practice in relation to assessing the learning outcomes of personal finance education lessons; and (8) The key principles of planning and delivering successful and effective personal finance education lessons. [This paper was supported by Personal Finance Education Group.]