NatWest celebrates smashing their target as another 1.5 million young people are taught MoneySense

NatWest has announced that they have exceeded their MoneySense financial education target set in October 2015, to educate a further 1 million young people about money by the end of 2018. Since this commitment, NatWest are pleased to report that they have reached a further 1.5 million young people through their free and impartial financial education resources, thanks to the support of staff, volunteers and school teachers.

As one of the first schools in the country to become an accredited MoneySense School, it was fitting that NatWest visit Heymann Primary School in Nottingham to make the announcement.

Heymann Primary is one of only 30 schools in the country, who have undertaken NatWest’s new MoneySense School Accreditation Programme. The new programme has been designed to encourage all pupils to participate in financial education, taking learning out of the classroom and into the day-to-day lives of young people. MoneySense accredited schools proactively introduce parents to the resources available through the MoneySense website in school communications so that financial education can continue at home and improve parent’s knowledge and confidence when talking to their children about money.

Financial Research from the Money Advice Service shows increasing evidence that by the age of seven, children have developed their attitude and values towards money. These attitudes and values are likely to stay with them for life. Only 43% of young people are confident managing their money, 59% of 16-17 year olds can’t read a pay slip and 32% have no experience of putting money into a bank account. With ever evolving technology and trends continuing towards less physical cash, MoneySense plays a vital role in young people’s financial education from primary school to high school.

Kirsty Britz, Director of Sustainable Banking, NatWest, said:

“We are delighted to have reached and exceeded our target – teaching another 1.5 million young people about money. At NatWest, we know the importance of getting into good money habits early. So I’m pleased we’ve also been able to support those schools that want to go one step further in encouraging children to learn about how to manage money.

Financial education should be available for all children. And with one third of parents worrying their children will ask them a question about money that they themselves can’t answer, the earlier we intervene to support teachers and parents with up-to-date information, the better.

I encourage schools and parents alike to use these free NatWest resources in their classrooms, and at home – it’s easy to register at mymoneysense.com.”

NatWest MoneySense is the free and impartial flagship financial education programme from NatWest for 5–18 year-olds, helping young people to make sense of money and build a better financial future.

Earlier this year, NatWest MoneySense introduced a new workshop module to teach young people aged 8-12 about the importance of avoiding scams and increase their awareness of fraud. The new fraud workshop saw pupils having to solve a number of clues and identify different types of fraud to help them learn how to keep themselves and their families safe from fraud and scams. This year, MoneySense has also introduced resources specially designed for children with special educational needs and disabilities, as well as modules designed to tackle the increasing number of Money Mule schemes and gambling related issues facing young people.