Nationwide launches UK’s first teacher accreditation to boost financial education in schools

Nationwide is launching a national accreditation for primary school teachers. Its aim is to boost confidence in teaching financial education and help more children develop lifelong money skills.

The accredited financial education training enhances Nationwide’s existing Money Lessons programme. It’s the first initiative of its kind from a UK bank or building society.

Rising parental concern

The launch comes as new research from Nationwide reveals 89 per cent of parents say it has never been more important for children to learn about personal finance at school. 81 per cent worry about the quality of personal finance content on social media. The Financial Conduct Authority has also raised concerns that young people are increasingly exposed to misleading financial promotions online, particularly through social media.

Nationwide’s poll of 2,000 parents who have children aged between five-15 years old found that one in four parents say their children now learn about money through social media, with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram listed as the top platforms. According to TikTok for Business insights, views of financial content on the channel grew by around 275 per cent year-on-year in 2024.

Parents rank personal finance as the fourth most important subject for teaching at school. This comes above English literature, PE, home economics and history. They hold this view despite it not featuring on the national curriculum. Their top reasons for wanting education for their children in personal finance include:

• understanding debt and the long-term consequences
• learning to budget and stay in control of money
• developing responsible attitudes towards spending

Many parents have felt the impact of limited financial education themselves. 72 per cent struggled to understand personal finance growing up and 70 per cent say it negatively affected them later in life. This reinforces the long‑term value of improving financial education provision in schools.

Supporting teachers through ready‑made resources

The accreditation has been developed in partnership with Visa. It launches for primary school teachers in April and for secondary school teachers by the end of 2026. Teachers can access the accredited financial education training on Nationwide’s Money Lessons webpage, alongside the full package of ready‑to‑use lessons and activities already available. This removes the need for teachers to create content from scratch, supporting workload reduction, curriculum consistency, and high‑quality delivery.

To become accredited, teachers complete a two‑hour online course. The course covers practical topics such as managing money, avoiding scams, and recognising misleading online content. It is then followed by a short competency test.

Addressing barriers identified by national research

The accreditation directly supports recommendations from the Money and Pensions Service. It found that, although many schools want to deliver more financial education, they face barriers such as limited time, low confidence, and a lack of resources. The organisation warns that low financial capability can leave young people more at risk of fraud, debt problems and unsafe financial products. It highlights teacher training as one of the most effective ways to improve the quality and consistency of financial education.

All materials for Nationwide’s Money Lessons have been created with input from psychologists and SEN teaching specialists. Everything can be downloaded from www.moneylessons.co.uk. Nationwide will track the number of accreditations by receiving information on completions, including the number of teachers, schools and accredited modules. Teachers will also receive a certificate issued by the CPD Certification Service.

The programme has already delivered 6,719 lessons to 196,052 pupils across the UK since February 2025. The new accreditation evolves the programme by shifting from lessons delivered by Nationwide colleagues to empowering teachers to confidently run them in their own classrooms.

Leadership perspectives

Amanda Beech, director of retail services at Nationwide, said:

“It’s clear that parents want to see financial education taught in schools, as many worry about what their children are learning on social media. We also know teachers want to give children clear, trustworthy guidance, but need more support and time. This new accreditation provides teachers simple, ready-to-use tools helping pupils to make safer everyday money decisions and gives parents reassurance that trusted teachers, using trusted materials, are shaping their children’s financial habits – both for now and into their futures.”

Sarah Webster, headteacher at Christ The King RC Primary School in Burnley, said:

“Teachers recognise the importance of teaching money skills, but recent research shows that many lack the time, resources or confidence to deliver this effectively. Nationwide’s new accreditation, supported by fully prepared lessons and high-quality planning materials, provides a practical solution to that challenge. It enables teachers to embed financial education with ease, ensuring children develop essential money skills from an early age. This is particularly important at a time when so much of what they encounter online is unregulated. This initiative not only strengthens classroom practice, it also helps schools play a meaningful role in improving financial confidence and inclusion.”