Financial education

See also our section on budgeting, money management and coping with debt.

Please note that some of these learning programmes are not accessible for some disabled people.

• Adviceguide - especially good on benefits, employment and tax, from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
  
  
• All About U from Uniaid - an interactive, innovative, online, student finance learning game for 16-19 year-old prospective students.
  
  
• Association of British Credit Unions - good training and international links, also other resources on financial education.
  
  
• BBC Cashwise - online magazine, information on budgeting and debt, (pdf format).
  
  
• Care Leavers website - advice on managing money and other key information for young people, from Solihull Council.
  
  
• Cash Crescent - an interactive learning programme to find out about money management and learn basic numeracy skills, concept based around families living in a street. Requires different levels of understanding in some sections. Need to register first at a learndirect centre, then access the free course online wherever and whenever you want.
  
  
• Children's Money World - resource for parents and children on numeracy and money, with worksheets and games for children.
  
  
• Consumer Education Web Site - information and downloadable materials for young people, teachers and the general public, including a section on online banking, worksheets for primary and secondary levels, quizzes, links, laws, health information, how to complain.
  
  
• Credit Action - Christian organisation promoting budget counselling through religious activities, has a useful self help guide with dealing with debt, advice on preparing a budget and information sheets.
  
  
• Credit Union Communities - good links and resources for financial education online, including case studies for training, budgeting, saving, debt, information sheets, sample lesson plan, news, leaflets and international links as well as online resources for credit union members.
  
  
• Face 2 Face with Finance - curriculum modules and activities, including simulations, currently covering basic banking, cards and card services, money management and credit, presenting tenders for a contract, from NatWest and Warwick University.
  
  
• Financial Literacy - projects and information from the Basic Skills Agency, including learning resources (Money Bags, Money Power, Money-Go-Round and a Personal Financial Dictionary, linked with numeracy and literacy skills, also information on other learning activities, teaching guides, research, community projects, qualifications, news, events and a bulletin board.
  
  
• Financial Planning Horizons - useful site for personal financial planning information with general information on various lifestages, quizzes, forms to help determine your financial situation (for printing), useful explanations , a monthly competition, section on how to open a bank account, learn online programme and useful links.
  
  
• FSA Learn Online - an online learning programme, including a quick financial planning questionnaire, information about opening and using a bank account, borrowing, insurance, saving, investment and pensions, advice on how to buy and the standards you should expect and interactive "checkpoints" to test your understanding and knowledge, from the Financial Services Authority.
  
  
• HM Revenue and customers tax tools and converters - including tax checker for students, company car and car fuel calculator, marginal relief rate calculator, pay adjustment calculator, PAYE reference converter for electronic payment, statutory maternity pay calculator.
  
  
• learnaboutmoney.org - series of online learning modules including Attitudes to Money, different Life Stages, Money Management, Saving and Borrowing, Investment, Saving for Retirement, Taxation, from the Pre-Retirement Association.
  
  
• Learning Bytes - interactive learning programme about the calculations we use in everyday life, including percentages, credit and store cards and probability.
  
  
• learndirect - education advice including finance for learning by telephone and free online courses (which you need to register for) covering business and management, including finance and cash flow resources and "Cash Crescent" about money management.
  
  
• Make or Break - a learndirect course on starting your own business, well reviewed in TES, May 14th 2004, as a useful introduction and good checklists with numeracy elements but costs £19.99 for eligible learners.
  
  
• Money-go-round (money skills for everyone) - CD-ROM for financial education, website has links to useful organisations, FAQ on using the CD-ROM, teaching ideas, case studies, additional resources. Also available is an new resource Money Power.
  
  
• Money Matters to Me - an excellent online practical guide to family finance, which includes what records to keep, making short, medium and long-term decisions, issues relating to different life changes, also, very clear interactive tutorials on how to use an ATM (cash machine), how to read your meters, tips on saving money around the home and word games on money issues. The site also has a pop-up calculator, interactive budget, interactive calculators for savings, loans, mortgages repayments, a link to a pensions calculator and an automatic letter for creditors within "useful tools".
  
  
• Money Power - companion to Money-Go-Round, available as a CD ROM, based on a slightly higher level of learning, focusing on levels one and two of the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Core Curriculum documents and the Developing and Extending levels of the Adult Financial Capability Framework, projects based around a spy spoof concept.
  
  
• pfeg - Personal Finance Education Group - learning framework, teaching resources, case studies, code of practice for pfeg Quality Mark, qualifications, news, recommended sites, good practice guides and mailing list.
  
  
• Starting work - very clear and useful advice on how to understand and deal with money when you start work, from the Citizenship Foundation.
  
  
• Your money be wise - online resources for Key Stage 3 (11 - 13) Everyday Budgeting, Key Stage 4 (14 - 16) Business and Shares, Post 16 Financial Management, Teachers Notes, from Pro-Share and HSBC.

• AdFLAG - Adult Financial Literacy Advisory Group - report and recommendations from DfES, 2000.
  
  
• Adult Financial Capability Framework - (pdf format) or  Adult Financial Capability Framework - (HTML format) - outlines the skills and competencies needed for financial capability and covers a broad range of money management and consumer issues. The framework is intended for advisers, teachers, trainers and helpers involved with finance and includes basic skills, education generally and community and finance issues, 2002/3.
  
  
• Banking Code Standards Board - includes new voluntary Banking Code for personal customers and new voluntary Business Banking Code, March 2003 (pdf format).
  
  
• Centre for Research into Socially Inclusive Services - at Heriot Watt University, reports on financial inclusion projects, also Community Capacity Building: Savings, Assets and Financial Inclusion, briefing paper, 2003.
  
  
• Citizens Advice Bureau - consumer, debt and financial services - reports, consultations, submissions and briefings.
  
  
• Debt and Financial Inclusion Briefing - general information and tips from CAB (pdf format) Financial Skills for Life project also run by CAB. Contact CAB for more information.
  
  
• Financial Information and Financial Education - report "Delivering Savings and Assets) from HM Treasury 2001, with section on financial information and education.
  
  
• People for Action - national network of housing and regeneration organisations, website includes publications, events, projects and links, also working on financial inclusion projects.
  
  
• Personal Finance Research Centre - research projects on banking, debt, financial exclusion and financial literacy, and news, from University of Bristol.
  
  
• Plan for Life Learning - Prudential's support for financial education, includes project and partnership reports and support to research different approaches to financial education.
  
  
• Promoting financial inclusion - article and project information from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), 2003.
  
  
• Renewal.net - information on projects and research and links to financial exclusion resources.
  
  
• Review of provision of learning programmes and accreditation in financial literacy - project information, from the National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy and numeracy.
  
  
• SAFE - services against financial exclusion - financial education and savings project from Toynbee.
  
  
• Scottish Centre for Financial Education (SCFE) - links and events covering all education sectors, from Learning and Teaching Scotland.
  
  
• Social Enterprise Institute - including reports on credit unions, financial exclusion and homelessness, financial services in rural communities, pdf format, from Heriot-Watt University.
  
  
• Summing Up: Bridging the Financial Divide - report on financial literacy from the CAB (2000), also see the free guide "Financial Literacy - a guide to activities in the CAB service" (2004), available from tel: 0115 934 8735 or email: beth.bell@citizensadvice.org.uk.
  
  
• UK Social Investment Forum - promoting and encouraging socially responsible investment in the UK including ethical investment, green investment, shareholder activism, social banking and community finance, site has policy and briefing papers on the issues, including Community Development Finance Institutions.