Programme evaluation of grants to improve financial education in schools and for children and young people in vulnerable circumstances

In October 2022, MaPS' £1.1 million grant programme funded seven organisations to develop and test approaches to supporting teachers, and practitioners working with children and young people in vulnerable circumstances, to deliver financial education. The programme reached over 2,400 teachers, 1,000 practitioners and approximately 54,000 children and young people.

• to build new evidence about what works to establish scalable and sustainable models for delivering financial education teacher and practitioner training
• to enable organisations to develop new and/or better-evidenced programmes that support children and young people to access quality financial education
• to enable organisations to reach more school leaders, teachers and practitioners, increasing their confidence, skills, knowledge and motivation to deliver financial education
• to contribute to the development of new evidence about the impact of teacher training on children and young people’s experiences of financial education and their financial wellbeing.

We commissioned Ecorys UK to evaluate the programme using a mixed-method approach combining in-depth interviews, practitioner surveys and analysis of programme data. Data was collected across two waves by either Ecorys or the projects themselves.

• Financial education training resulted in positive outcomes for teachers and practitioners including improved confidence, skills, motivation and knowledge, and increased their understanding of the importance of financial education.
• Positive outcomes for children and young people included an observed increase in financial knowledge and literacy, and an increase in confidence using financial knowledge.
• The evaluation highlighted successful strategies to engage school staff and practitioners in the training, including using established networks and relationships to promote it, as well as the effectiveness of disseminating training using cascading models.
• The creation of flexible and adaptable teaching resources helped motivate teachers and practitioners to continue delivering financial education. Engaging children and young people in the co-production of resources also helped projects to create relevant and engaging content.
•  Embedding children and young people’s financial education at a policy level would support the scaling and sustaining of the provision, and there is a need to strengthen its presence in school curricula and raise awareness of the subject’s importance amongst teachers.  

This report can offer policy makers, funders and education providers suggestions for how future financial education programmes and services can be shaped in order to train more teachers and practitioners to deliver financial education, and sustain the effects of that training within settings.

Researchers and evaluators can use the report to inform further study - for example, to further strengthen evidence uncovered, or to fill gaps in understanding that this programme was unable to.