Child trust funds to help teach personal finance in primary schools

Primary school children are to be taught basic personal finance using child trust funds (CTF) as a learning tool, the government has announced.

As part of their maths lessons children will learn how to open a bank account, understand concepts like interest rates, and plan for their financial future.

Ed Balls, secretary of state for children, schools and families, said: ‘It’s never too early to encourage children to think about money and saving for the future and we want to ensure that every child, no matter what their background, has the financial skills to achieve whatever they want in life.

‘The Child Trust Fund provides children with a financial head start and through the extra funds announced today we plan to use it to make personal finance real and tangible in the classroom. By the time the first children with a child trust fund leave school they will have the skills and confidence to manage their money well.’

CTF is a long-term savings and investment account for children born on or after 1 September 2002, and was launched to strengthen the saving habit of future generations and promote financial education. Under the scheme, every eligible child receives at least £250 on their seventh birthday.

Secondary students will also receive personal finance lessons under new curriculum announced earlier this year. Students will learn about taxation, personal budgeting and savings, and a range of financial products including pensions, interest rates, trade and investment.

The government will spend £11.5 million from 2008 to 2011 revising the curriculum, producing new educational material based on CTF and training teachers.