Today, the Curriculum and Assessment Review has shown a strong response to the desire from students, teachers, parents, campaigners, and the financial sector alike to ensure that all students receive a stronger financial education.

The report has increased the level of content that is present on the Citizenship curriculum; made citizenship statutory in primary schools (including financial education); and proposed that maths and citizenship are more aligned to ensure optimal delivery of financial education. Although the statutory financial education in secondary schools that many have called for has not been recommended, recent changes will mean that schools will have to follow the national curriculum so a greater number of students are set to benefit from the changes that have been proposed. The report has also introduced statutory financial education for primary schools, something that GoHenry has done a great deal of work on.

Over the past two years, the issue of financial education has gained greater salience, with the Education Committee report initially highlighting the dire state of financial education; to politicians taking notice; and more recently Becky Francis stating in a Schools Week interview that, “every focus group or stakeholder meeting that I’ve had with young people – they have volunteered without prompting that they want more financial education”. It is clear that financial education has become an issue which many people care about, but positive recommendations in the report is not going to be the full solution.

Firstly, this report is merely a series of recommendations that the government may or may not choose to enact, in order to ensure that students receive the financial education they deserve, we need to continue to put pressure on the government and Bridget Phillipson to implement these recommendations.

And secondly, there remains a generation of students who have not received a sufficient financial education who will not benefit from these reforms. Thus, we need to raise the question as to what will be done to ensure these students are not left on an unequal footing and have great gaps in their financial knowledge that could have lasting consequences.

However, overall, today is a day for financial education campaigners to rejoice.