Headington Rye is set to put financial literacy on the timetable for all pupils.
From September 2026, the unique Level 2 Award in Financial Literacy created by the School will be compulsory for all Year 9 pupils – meaning each girl will enter their GCSEs with a strong grounding in essential finance principles.
The move is part of the School’s commitment to preparing young women for the challenges they will face in adult life.
This year, 84 Year 10 pupils completed the course, which is accredited by the University of Buckingham. This brings the total number of girls to achieve the qualification to 237 over the last four years.
With the programme becoming compulsory at Year 9, alongside an elective option remaining for Year 10, it is anticipated more than 100 pupils will complete the course in 2027.
The qualification teaches practical financial skills including budgeting, understanding taxation, comparing insurance policies, saving, investing and evaluating economic policy.
Mr George Vlachonikolis, Assistant Head and Economics specialist who developed the course, said: “Government research consistently shows that poor financial literacy disproportionately affects young women. At Headington Rye, we believe schools have a responsibility to prepare pupils not just academically, but practically, for the future.
“This course is part of a wider pathway which includes Economics and Business A Levels, an industry-driven BTEC Diploma in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and mini-MBA opportunities.
“This comprehensive programme is aimed at helping our students develop confidence, independence and entrepreneurial thinking.”
Year 10 pupil Erin said the course taught her “how to compare insurance policies against each other and how to draw up a budget for things like travelling abroad”.
She said: “I also enjoyed the discussions around economic policy, including child benefit and income distribution policies.”
The expansion of the programme comes amid growing national concern around financial literacy among young people and increasing calls for schools to provide more real-world financial education.
By embedding financial literacy into the core curriculum, Headington Rye hopes to lead the way in equipping the next generation of young women with the knowledge and confidence to make informed financial decisions throughout their lives.