Hargreaves Lansdown has partnered with the University of Bristol to provide financial wellbeing courses for students.
The partnership comes as 64% of students in the UK wished they had received better financial education at school, according to Student Money Survey 2023.
The pilot launched in April 2024 and consists of five custom-built modules delivered to over 70 University of Bristol students through blended learning, webinar and face-to-face mentoring sessions.
The content has been tailor-made for students, structured on HL’s 5 to Thrive framework, the five key building blocks for financial resilience.
Clare Stinton, head of workplace saving analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown said; “University is a major milestone for many young adults, it’s the point in the road when newfound independence meets financial responsibility head on. Big financial decisions line the path ahead, and the choices made can pave the way towards financial security and freedom, yet we find that many are often unprepared to navigate this transition,
“Many young people have been largely left in the dark when it comes to managing money, because despite the introduction of financial education to the national curriculum in 2014, six in ten young adults can’t recall receiving any during their time at school. Leaving such essential knowledge up to chance, often determined by postcode, does not equip the next generation with the tools needed to start adult life on the right financial foot.”
The HL Financial Wellbeing course seeks to provide students who choose to enrol with a blueprint for good financial health: how to create a smart spending plan and shop savvy – the tools to make their money work harder and build good money habits that they can take into life after university, setting them on the right financial path.
With 91% of UK students either somewhat or very worried about the rising cost of living, according to the England Office for National Statistics, the programme aims to increase the knowledge and confidence of students.
Honor Yue Ai Brown, a student on the 2024 pilot, said: “The course has been an empowering experience, equipping me with the tools to manage my current and future finances effectively. I feel less anxious about my current University finances, and more confident in taking the initiative to make informed financial decisions to support my life goals. For example, I now consider employer pension schemes when applying to different graduate jobs.”
The course will also cover what core employee benefits to look out for when entering the world of work, as well as the role of investments when it comes to growing wealth.
It also strengthens the university’s wider student wellbeing package of financial support for students, which includes daily money advice drop-in sessions, dozens of scholarships and bursaries and a hardship fund.
Steve Hall, director of student experience at the University of Bristol, said: “The wellbeing of our students is at the heart of everything we do, and we are pleased that our students are finding the collaborative course with Hargreaves Lansdown useful. Financial wellbeing is key part of overall wellbeing, which is why we offer daily money advice drop-in sessions, scholarships, and access to a hardship fund to all our students.”
The longer-term ambition is to extend the availability of these short-skill courses to all 25,000 undergraduate students at University of Bristol on an opt-in basis.