Making it all add up: An introduction to the Certificate in Financial Studies

Teaching Business & Economics, Autumn 2003 by Ashmore, Simon

There has been much talk of the poor state of financial education in the UK. Employers in the financial services sector confirm that the level of financial understanding among recruits, either direct from school or university, leaves a great deal to be desired. This leads to substantial training spend within the industry just to get recruits on to the first rung of the knowledge ladder. It is also a major inhibiting factor in attracting young people into the sector. On the broader stage, poor financial literacy is not good for the providers of financial services or the buyers. It is in everybody's interests to have customers capable of making informed choices.

There have been some initiatives to improve this situation and the government has rightly identified schools as being the first place to begin this important educational process. The Institute of Financial Services (ifs) has responded to what has become an urgent need by developing a new qualification, the Certificate in Financial Studies (CeFS). About to begin its third and final pilot year ahead of a national roll-out in September 2004, the CeFS is already causing ripples of excitement throughout schools and the financial services industry.

Benchmarked against AS level, the CeFS is designed to provide students with a wide range of knowledge about the financial services environment that will inform their interactions with the industry throughout their lives. The ifs intends its certificate to boost recruitment to the financial services sector by demonstrating the range of careers available. The course will provide invaluable background knowledge for any job interview and an essential starting point for subsequent career development and professional training.

Nineteen schools and colleges will participate in the final pilot year, from an inner-city secondary in special measures, right through to independent grammar schools and FE colleges in London, Norwich, Bristol and Cambridge. "From 2004 we'll be offering our the certificate right across the country. It will be benchmarked against the AS level standard and have the same number of UCAS points [the point score used for university entry]," says Dorothy Wood, Head of Faculty (14 - 19 years), at the ifs. The CeFS will become part of a suite of qualifications that will take a young person in full-time education up to the point of entry into the financial services industry.

CeFS is delivered in the classroom, supplemented by visits and mentoring from senior managers within the industry. The ifs is increasingly looking to online means of delivering the course using the experience of the pilot schools and colleges to inform delivery.

The pilot has revealed that electronic marking is a major selling point. Students sit two multiple-choice papers administered at their local Prometric test centre using the same touch-screen technology that the Institute employs to assess its mortgage qualification, CeMAP (tm). Candidates are told immediately whether they have passed or failed and what their grade is. "Instant feedback is proving to be the certificate's most popular feature," says Wood. "An individual could decide on the basis of their marks whether to revise and resit the paper within a few weeks. No other exam at A-level offers them this opportunity."

"The feedback we've had from students is that our course helps them understand business concepts," says Dorothy Wood. "We've gone for a case-study approach in which students are given scenarios that they have to work out solutions to - such as why people might choose one credit card over another."

"It'll help me stand out from the crowd."

In his final year at St Columba's College, St Albans, Darren Cunningham is among the first cohort of students to take the ifs' Certificate. The independent boys' school is one of three institutions taking part in the pilot. Darren is enthusiastic about what he sees as a useful addition to his CV: "It'll help me stand out from the crowd. There's competition when you graduate and this might be something an employer would want."

Having finished A2-levels in maths, physics and design technology, Darren has secured a place at Imperial College, London, to read engineering. Comparing the Certificate with his other A-levels, Darren found the style of teaching refreshing: "We worked independently with the teachers as a back-up on some of the more difficult areas. It was a 50/50 split between teaching and self-study. Exams were done on a touch screen - it was great getting the results the same day - not in two or three months."

Classmate Dominic Duke also approved of the clear course structure. "It is something you can fit around your studies and take home with you to work on the computer. We visited Deutschebank and Toronto and Dominion Bank in London and spent some time on the trading floor." The pupils were presented with their certificates at Grocers' Hall in the City of London by Michael Kirkwood, deputy president of the ifs and UK country corporate officer at Citigroup, and Adrian Lajtha, a partner at consultancy Accenture, who's also chairman of the faculty board running the qualification.