“Empowering young people to feel confident about money”

We spoke to Grace Hardy, MAAT about the lack of financial education in schools, why it’s important to address this issue, and how self-belief can take you a long way in accountancy.

It wasn’t until Grace left school and worked through her Level 3 and Level 4 AAT qualifications that she realised just how little financial education she had received as a child. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at primary school, academic life was hard, which is one of the many reasons why she opted for an AAT apprenticeship to avoid another three years of tuition at university.

However, it only occurred to her as a young woman that if she had had more conversations in school about money, her winding pathway into accounting might have been a 100m dash to the career finish line. She’s now on a mission with AAT to raise awareness of financial literacy and its importance for young people.

Highlighting the lack of financial literacy in young people

A recent report by AAT and Grace Hardy found that less than half of 16–25-year-olds received financial education at school. Where financial education does exist, it often starts too late and is not preparing young people well for adult life.

Even more worryingly, three in five young people have faced one or more financial difficulties in their lives, including overspending and running out of money, borrowing from family or friends, or confusion over financial products. Grace says that financial conversations need to be happening much sooner in life.

“I think young people need much more financial education before they finish school,” she said. “If we look at the two routes of an apprenticeship or university, it’s really important to have a foundational understanding of both and financially what they mean.

“When you go into an apprenticeship, it’s likely that this will be the biggest lump sum of money you’ve received so far in your life. Some of the questions we find young people asking themselves are: ‘what do I do with that money?’ or, ‘how do I even read a payslip?’.

“It’s important that you understand how to budget, because it might be the first time that you’re living away from home, so you need to understand how to factor in your rent, bills, council tax, flat deposit etc.

“If you go down the university route, many don’t understand interest rates, credit cards, student loans and budgeting again. Many see the student loan as free money, and don’t realise the impact on their future salaries if they climb the career ladder into well-paid jobs.

“This foundational understanding of finance could help thousands truly understand what they’re signing up for.”

Why are young people missing out on financial education?

Despite financial education becoming a statutory part of the National Curriculum in England in 2014, the report shows that only half (50%) of respondents understand that paying just the minimum on a credit card racks up interest on the rest.

As well as this, 41% are saving nothing for retirement and a worrying one in eight of those not saving say they never will. More than ten years on from the curriculum change, and still young people are struggling. Grace puts this down to two main reasons.

• The first? “There’s already so much in the curriculum, so trying to find the time to fit in financial education is hard,” she said. “The problem is that there is a focus to do all the core subjects first and then fit everything else in around it.
• “I also think the second reason is that a survey from the House of Lords found that one in two adults are financially illiterate. Now, if you apply that stat into teachers, this means one in two teachers are financially illiterate.”

Teachers are the ones having to teach financial education because most schools can’t afford a qualified person to come in and speak about money, according to Grace. She continued: “I can imagine that some won’t feel confident about teaching the subject, especially when students may have questions they can’t answer.”

Staying motivated in search of change

Not only has Grace gone on to create her own business, Hardy Accounting, she’s also used her experiences to build a community on social media to inspire others. Juggling her work and campaigning efforts can be tough, but helping others is in her DNA.

She said: “My mum was a nurse so helping others has been installed within me. Being an accountant means I’m able to give back to a certain extent, but obviously it’s quite transactional. This campaign is all about trying to create a better society for everyone to live in because finance is such a crucial and important thing, especially with a cost-of-living crisis where budgeting is more important than ever.”

Grace also suggests that this campaign is more about raising awareness and encouraging people to take control of their own futures.

She continued: “I think it’s about empowering all people that don’t feel confident around money to be able to have resources that they know they can rely on. There can be several scams on social media which claim to offer quick ways of making money, but it’s about using trusted resources to help you build towards your future.

“We want to offer support and let people know that they can come to places like AAT for trusted information and resources that have been vetted. Naturally this will build confidence over time.

“I remember when I wanted to invest my money, but my mum said it was too much of a gamble. However, it’s all about your mindset and once she saw my ISA doing well, she asked me to teach her how to do the same.”

Hopes for the future and advice for others

The best way to learn about money, according to Grace, is to take back a little bit of control and find what works for you. Moving forward, she hopes that schools can adapt their lessons, but for now, she wants young people to understand what their own finances look like and how to invest properly.

She added: “I want young people to have a think about where they want to be on their own journey. Once they have this in mind, perhaps they can talk to a trusted professional who can help fill the gaps with the things they don’t understand.

“I could list loads of things, but that’s incredibly unhealthy and a bit overwhelming. The key thing to do is to know your starting point and where you want to end up.”

For more information about AAT and Grace Hardy’s Money Matters campaign, and to read the full report, click here.

Harry Rogers is AAT Comment’s news writer.