Financial education in schools should be a standalone subject Five years after its introduction onto the national curriculum, students still say they are not getting enough access to a comprehensive financial education and that they worry about money.

September saw us hold our annual graduation ceremony – a day of celebration and relief for most students! But what happens next? After graduation, some students get caught up in post-graduation blues and panic about what lies ahead. Until now, their lives have had structured routine. They’ve known where they need to be and what they’re working towards. And they’ve been surrounded by friends who are in the same boat.

October marks the launch of The London Institute of Banking & Finance’s annual Student Investor Challenge which sees tens of thousands of students from schools and colleges around the country compete in teams, trading virtual shares for a chance to compete at the live final in London. In last year’s competition over 37,000 students took part.

Clearing has a reputation as a ‘last resort’ for university applicants who didn’t get the results they were expecting, but that’s changing. While it does serve that function, more and more students are seeing it as an opportunity to give themselves more choice before making a final decision.

What’s the point of TEF? Many universities will be making some noise about their TEF results, announced recently, and quite rightly so. We certainly are – in our first TEF award we got Silver!