Description of the programme

Lifesavers is a financial education programme designed for primary schools, with the aim of equipping children to manage money sensibly in the present and the future. It provides training and resources for teachers to help them deliver financial education to children of all ages (i.e. 4-11). It also offers support to set up and manage ‘school savings clubs’, while also encouraging parental and wider community engagement. LifeSavers is a partnership between the Archbishop of Canterbury's Just Finance Foundation and Young Enterprise, with financial support from Virgin Money, as well as Government.

There are three main elements to the approach taken by the Lifesavers programme to financial education:

• Continual professional development and training on financial education for teachers, along with resources to help schools entrench financial education within the school curriculum.
• The scheme also provides support to facilitate school savings clubs so that children get first-hand, practical experience of handling and saving money. This is run in association with local credit unions.
• A ‘whole community’ approach that involves parents, credit unions, churches and community groups in enabling children to learn about money.

Following a pilot in six schools in 2015/2016, the aim in the first year of the programme was to roll Lifesavers out across 30 schools in four different regions (the North East, Nottinghamshire, South East London and West Yorkshire) in 2016/17. In subsequent years the aim is to see the programme extended to another 40 schools, including an extra two regions.

The study

Public Perspectives are an independent research and evaluation organisation who were commissioned to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Lifesavers programme. The evaluation was embedded in the programme from the start, and is classed by the authors as both a ‘learning’ and ‘impact’ evaluation.

The evaluation developed a theory of change model and evaluation framework to capture learning outcomes and measure how successful the programme was. Indicators were then developed to measure the impact of the programme on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours of pupils, as well as the impact on schools/teachers, parents, credit unions and the wider community. The evaluation employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. These included surveys of pupils, schools and teachers, as well as case studies and stakeholder interviews.

Key findings

The evaluation identifies the following key findings:

• In 2016/17 (year one), lifesavers engaged with almost 500 teachers and over 6,000 pupils
• 29 schools registered for the programme (the target was 30)
  • 21 out of the targeted 30 schools set up savings clubs
  • 20 schools were fully participating in Lifesavers
  • 461 teachers received training in financial education teaching
  • 6,043 pupils received financial education
  • 529 pupils were saving through savings clubs
• Steady progress has been made, with the programme scaling up from six schools in the pilot year to 29 schools in year one. Systems and resources have been established, though some schools were slow to roll out the programmes having a knock-on effect on the opening of savings clubs.
• There is emerging evidence that the programme works, with schools, teachers and pupils giving positive reviews of the scheme.
• Qualitative evidence is encouraging, highlighting that pupils are increasing their knowledge and understanding of financial issues, and developing savings habits.
• While much of the evidence in the early stages has been qualitative, there are some quantitative findings:
• At Key Stage One there is an average increase of 22% on knowledge outcomes, 2% on skills outcomes and 12% on behavioural outcomes.
  • At Key Stage Two there is an average increase of 10% on knowledge outcomes, 6% on attitudinal outcomes and 4% on behavioural outcomes.
  • Findings are generally consistent across different variables, including area, levels of deprivation, and the denomination of the school.
  • Many head teachers of schools where Lifesavers was rolled out were committed to continue delivering Lifesavers and the savings clubs for the ‘foreseeable future’.

Points to consider

• At this early stage, the evaluation relies mainly on qualitative responses provided by teachers and pupils. Although providing valuable insights, the findings are not therefore representative of the wider primary school population. A larger-scale evaluation with more quantitative analysis, including other areas, would be needed to robustly report on the effectiveness of the programme. However, with the scheme being rolled out more widely this will happen in subsequent years.
• The evaluation was too small in scale for inferences to be made to the wider population, and therefore caution should be exercised in generalising from the results.
• This report is relevant to all stakeholders and policymakers with an interest in financial education among children.