How strong financial education can lead to higher maths uptake

Maths is a popular subject at Pipers Corner School. At one point, around 60 per cent of sixth-formers were taking either maths or core maths at A level.

This year the figure is around 50 per cent. This is particularly significant given that Pipers Corner is an all-girls’ school - and we know that there is a persistent gender gap in maths participation post-16.

To me, this high uptake reflects students’ growing confidence in applying financial and mathematical thinking beyond the classroom.

By the time students leave Pipers Corner School, they have not simply learned about money; they have managed it, planned with it, communicated about it and used it with purpose.

So how have we achieved this?

At our school, financial literacy is not viewed as an add-on or isolated topic. It is a carefully structured journey that begins in the earliest years and develops progressively through to sixth form, ensuring students leave school with the confidence, understanding and real-life skills they need to manage money responsibly and thoughtfully.

Financial literacy starts in Reception

That journey begins in Reception, where pupils are introduced to money through practical experiences such as handling cash and making simple purchasing decisions during visits to local shops. These early experiences help to build familiarity and confidence in a very tangible way.

As students move into the prep years (Years 3 to 6), this develops into more structured learning around budgeting, earning, spending and understanding the consequences of financial decisions.

We also introduce fundraising activities, which help pupils to think about how money is raised and how it can be used to support others. This culminates in our Year 6 Prep Captains’ Challenge, which involves pupils planning and delivering a charity fundraising event, working under the guidance of staff mentors to design activities and engage an audience.

Each year it raises significant funds for charity and gives pupils early experience of planning, teamwork and responsibility.

We also have a charity ambassador programme running across year groups, in which students select a charity, plan fundraising activity and set their own financial targets.

The students are expected to communicate the impact of their work, including how funds are used. This reinforces an important principle: financial decision-making is not just about numbers, but about accountability, purpose and impact.

In the middle years, students begin to engage more explicitly with financial planning and risk. In Year 8, for example, they take part in the free Virgin Money Make £5 Grow challenge, which tasks them with taking £5 and turning it into more through enterprise activities.

This introduces structured decision-making and resource-management skills, which we then extend in Year 9 through business studies projects where students work collaboratively to budget, market and evaluate outcomes within set time frames. These experiences require students to apply their financial understanding in practical contexts where they must keep to deadlines.

Real-life scenarios

In senior school (Years 7 to 11), our financial education is supported through Barclays LifeSkills, a free employability and financial education programme, ensuring progression and consistency. Students explore key areas such as saving, credit, debt, fraud, insurance and long-term financial planning. These concepts are reinforced through enterprise activity and leadership opportunities, helping students to connect financial theory with real decision-making.

The impact of this approach becomes particularly clear in sixth form. As well as the strong uptake of core maths, we have seen strong engagement in the Young Enterprise Company Programme, where students establish and run real companies, managing finance, operations and marketing. These experiences require collaboration, resilience and informed decision-making under real pressure.

For me, financial education is essential because it shapes how young people understand responsibility, choice and consequence. The earlier they are introduced to these ideas, the better prepared they will be to navigate life beyond school with confidence, judgement and independence.

This tallies with the curriculum and assessment review, which said it is vital for the curriculum to provide young people with financial education from an early age.

Importantly, financial education cannot be delivered as a one-off lesson; it needs to be revisited and built upon over time, with opportunities for students to apply their understanding in real contexts.

To improve financial education in your school, the key points to follow are:

1. Immerse students in real-life finance scenarios.
2. Prioritise decision-making in scenarios rather than the learning of concepts.
3. Expand initiatives for student-led enterprise.

The result of strong financial education is young people who are prepared for adult life with confidence, clarity and responsibility, equipped not just with financial knowledge, but with the judgement and values needed to use it well.

Andy Codling is assistant head, academic; and financial literacy lead at Pipers Corner School, Buckinghamshire