MILLIONS of children will find themselves gaining a better insight into money matters as the new school term gets under way.

Financial education has been included in England’s national curriculum for the first time, bringing it into line with the rest of the UK.

The move means that personal finance will now be taught in secondary-school citizenship-education lessons, helping the next generation to understand how money is used and the importance of setting and managing a budget.

Teenagers will learn about credit, debt, insurance, savings and pensions, along with other financial products. The financial-education elements of secondary-school maths are also being strengthened, with the new curriculum putting an explicit statutory emphasis on “financial mathematics”.

Many of those sitting in these classes will be on the brink of getting their first real taste of financial independence.

This could mean anything from working out how to live on a tight budget as a student to getting a first job and calculating whether or not you can afford to fly the nest and juggle your rent and utility bills on a starter salary.

Being armed with their new-found financial knowhow should put young people in a better position to do this.

And as they travel through life, having some basic building blocks of financial knowledge will help the next generation to work out the cheapest way to borrow money, pick the best savings products for their needs or argue their case when it comes to complaining about a financial product with which they are not happy.

The government-backed Money Advice Service estimates consumers lose £428 a year by misunderstanding financial terms and conditions or not reading them. Hopes are high that better financial knowledge will help to nip in the bud the possibility of future mis-selling scandals.

For example, some £16 billion has been paid back to consumers as a result of the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal. The financial ombudsman says that seven out of ten cases it sees are still about PPI.

Campaigners have welcomed the new emphasis on financial education — but say this should be seen as just the start.

A survey of teachers carried out by charity pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) found that 83 per cent said money skills should be taught at primary-school level to be most effective, and 70 per cent are seeing evidence that children are encountering financial decisions earlier in life than previously.

Steve Stillwell, pfeg’s director of education, said: “Financial education’s new place in the national curriculum is an important leap forward for our cause — but there is much more to do.

“We know from experience that the earlier that financial education begins, the more effective it is in giving young people the money-management skills they need.

“We need to see this taught from a much earlier age in all primary schools, as well as in the growing number of academies and free schools that are not bound to follow the national curriculum.”

Mums and dads can do their bit to help children understand money by kickingoff, from an early age, light conversations around the subject, whether it is chatting to them about prices as they are being taken around the supermarket, or letting them handle coins and notes.

  • See moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/you-your-kidsand- money for tips on how to engage children with money.