Financial literacy programme for secondary school students

The Pitch

Problem statement

Tower Hamlets is the most disadvantaged borough in London, despite being on the doorstep of The City. The rate of child poverty is one of the UK’s highest, with double the number of children eligible for free school meals compared to the national average. Employment for residents is often in low-income or zero hours contracts with little stability. This creates a cycle of financial precariousness, where households run into debt with pay-day money lenders and credit cards. To combat the root causes, we run financial literacy sessions with teenagers to equip them with money management tools. These run alongside wider employability projects, to ensure that future generations escape this cycle.

Solution

The short-term goal of the project is to ensure that 180 students in a typical school year group understand basic financial management concepts such as budgeting, differences between credit and debit cards, and what a mortgage is. Volunteers from business join the project to give real-life examples to students on their experiences in managing money and to answer financial questions. The long-term impact is for students to adopt these habits and knowledge so they have a sound financial basis when they become independent and leave school. Funding is primarily spent on project management time to facilitate and administer the activity, with a small contribution to resources.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

We partner with nearly every Secondary School in the borough to deliver our employability schemes; 13 large Secondary Schools work with us annually. We already successfully deliver our range of programmes to over 12,000 students every academic year. We have specialists in financial literacy on our staff with considerable experience in explaining financial concepts to young people. We work with over 5,000 business volunteers from The City and Canary Wharf firms every year to harness their expertise and provide role models to our young people, so these activities would have great support from industry experts.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

180 people

Expected impact

We will gather quantitative and qualitative data from the 180 students as soon as the activity is finished to assess the short-term impact. Measurable targets include: - At least 75% of students reporting an improvement in their confidence in managing money - At least 75% of students reporting a better ability to create a budget for their own needs - At least 75% of students reporting a better understanding about how much things cost - At least 75% of students reporting that they know some of the pitfalls of debt, and how people fall into debt. In the long-term the change in the young people will be captured in longitudinal case studies with our alumni. The impact of a wider financial awareness and ability to question financial decisions (ie financial confidence) will pay off in their choices of employment and day-to-day lifestyle to promote financial stability.

Track record

Our Secondary Schools financial literacy programme ran very successfully last academic year to 1940 students in 10 schools, which is why we want to repeat this success and are seeking funding for one school cohort of 180 students from C Hoares to run this in spring/summer 2023. Impact data from 2021-22 includes: - An average rating of improved confidence on all financial awareness topics of 80% from students. - 100% of 70 Business volunteers rating the event as likely to recommend taking part to their colleagues. - Quote from a Stepney All Saints student: "I learned about managing and organising my money and I also received real life tips from professionals." - Quote from a Barclays volunteer: "I enjoyed the ability to influence and impact students as they learned about all things money-related."

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