New curriculum rules for England schools after Martin Lewis called for shake-up

Rules in England are set to change after demands from Martin Lewis, with MPs backing the Money Saving Expert founder. MPs have finally called for compulsory financial ed in English primary and secondary schools after damning evidence from Mr Lewis and others.

BBC and ITV star Mr Lewis has welcomed the Eduction Committee's new report – which has put forward many of his proposals – arguing that every child deserves to be properly equipped for independent financial life.

The Committee recommended to make PSHE compulsory in primary AND secondary schools – and ensure financial education is taught within it. It also recommended a review of the maths curriculum up to age 16 and to improve teaching materials and training for teachers.

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It also called to itroduce new 'financial education co-ordinators' and also embed financial education into the curriculum for 16- to 18-year-olds. Mr Lewis said in a statement: "I'm delighted that the Education Committee has taken on board so many of the points that we put forward to them."

He added: "We've been fighting for proper financial education in English schools for over a decade now, and it's moved very, very slowly. If you consider it would take just a fraction of a per cent of the amount of money paid back in PPI (payment protection insurance) reclaims alone to fully fund all financial education in schools, it's incredibly shortsighted that we don't invest a small amount in making sure our children are tooled up in this competitive consumer economy that we live in.

"There is no excuse and there should be no hiding place. Every child deserves to understand the financial landscape they're going into and to be properly equipped for independent financial life. I'm delighted the Committee is pushing this and I will continue to work on this in future."