West Yorkshire Trading Standards has developed an inovative and interactive Financial Capability Programme currently being delivered across the North of England. The objective of the initiative is to empower young people with the knowledge to make better financial choices; ultimately to help make them more capable and informed consumers. More confident citizens are able to take greater responsibility for their financial affairs and play a more active role in the market for financial services.
Young people face more responsibilities and challenges than ever and are faced with a complicated array of financial services on offer. They now bear more of the costs of their education; they can access credit more easily and get into financial difficulties more quickly. Far too many young adults leave school unable to make sound financial decisions. Arming them with the necessary skills to better manage their money from the importance of budgeting and not getting into debt, to how to manage their income and plan for the future is all key to economic wellbeing.
The project has reached over 35,000 young people since March 2008. The initiative is aimed at a wide spectrum of young learners within the 16-25 age brackets and has been delivered in a large number of schools and colleges as well as a variety of community organisations such as Housing Associations, Princes Trust, Youth Offending teams, Sure Start centres and Prisons.
The project teaches young people about topics ranging from budgeting to banking, affordable credit, credit agreements, illegal money lending and issues such as identify fraud and phishing scams. The aim being that participants not only acquire the knowledge of basic requirements for money management, but also ‘enterprise’ skills such as team working, communication, leadership, problem solving, creativity, presentation and meeting deadlines, All of which are transferable skills vital in the world of employment.
Recognising that young people’s own financial situations and experiences are key elements of personal finance education, the units are based on a series of characters representing a selection of real-life scenarios they can identify with: a school leaver, a university student, a recent graduate, a single parent, a business woman and a member of the armed forces.
The resource consists of five units and takes approximately three hours to complete. Recognising that young people’s own financial situations and experiences are key elements of personal finance education, the units are based on a series of characters representing a selection of real-life scenarios they can identify with: a school leaver, a university student, a recent graduate, a single parent, a business woman and a member of the armed forces.
Working in teams, each small group represents a different character, examining the lifestyles, spending habits and credit needs of their chosen figure, progressing through the units to culminate their learning experience in a game, scoring points by making informed financial decisions based on what they have learnt.
Barclays Money Skills Units
Unit 1: Necessities versus Luxuries Desired Outcomes:
• Participants will understand the concept of disposable income
• Be aware of their own spending habits
• Understand that people’s spending habits and priorities change over time
Activity: Young people learn about their character’s lifestyle and spending habits. Using this information, they determine whether a set of items allocated to their character should be considered ‘luxuries’ or ‘necessities’ and justify their decisions accordingly.
Unit 2: Bank Statement
Desired Outcomes:
• Young people learn about bank statements and banking terminology, essential in combating financial exclusion
• They will appreciate the need for security and have the confidence to make informed decisions to manage their own accounts in the future
Activity: The teams study sample bank statements for each of the characters, looking at income and expenditure on the account and the different type of banking transactions and terminology that feature on the statements. Evidence of learning is tested with a matching pairs card game, where teams demonstrate their levels of understanding, matching financial terms and products with brief definitions.
Unit 3: Loans Desired Outcomes:
• Young people understand the concept of credit and different credit options available.
• They will also look at how credit is advertised and be able to make informed choices about which type of credit is most suitable in different circumstances. Helping young people to become critically aware of the benefits and uses of appropriate financial services is an important step towards achieving greater financial inclusion.
Activity: The teams choose between three different forms of credit provision to enable their characters to purchase a desired item. Studying advertisements and examining them for misleading features and legal compliance with the requirement of the Consumer Credit Act, they discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of each option for their characters before deciding which one to apply for.
Unit 4: Credit Reports
Desired Outcomes:
• Young people will understand the impact of personal financial management on an individual’s credit record and will understand how to manage their affairs in future so that their own records are positive and accurate.
Activity: The characters apply for a copy of their credit report to find out why their application for credit has been rejected or because they think they have been the victim of identity theft etc. Participants study sample credit reports and calculate notional credit scores for their characters, thereby learning about the process of credit scoring, the need to create a credit history, and the impact choices can have on future applications for credit.
Unit 5: The Game
Desired Outcomes:
• Young people test knowledge and learning experiences gained in the earlier units
• They will understand how to evaluate different financial options and consider the implications of those choices on their personal lives and their families
Activity: The groups use their character to play a board game, competing in teams to gain points. Questions testing knowledge from the earlier units are posed and the teams have to work together to accumulate the highest score.
The Money Skills initiative has been recently been commended at the Municipal Journal Awards and highly commended at the Local Government Yorkshire and Humber Awards finishing 2nd place in a highly competitive category at this year’s event. Click on the logo’s to view our entry submissions:
For more information contact the Barclays
Money Skills team:
The resource consists of five units and takes approximately three hours to complete. Recognising that young people’s own financial situations and experiences are key elements of personal finance education, the units are based on a series of characters representing a selection of real-life scenarios they can identify with: a school leaver, a university student, a recent graduate, a single parent, a business woman and a member of the armed forces.