First week back at college in the New Year can be a daunting time for those applying to Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Deadlines are fast approaching and money matters are usually left until last minute
The Hermitage Academy & Sixth Form in Chester-Le-Street brought in Five Lamps’ MyBnk project to deliver short sessions on the importance of Uni Dosh to 15 2nd year students.
The workshops covered everything from money coming in such as loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships and part time work, to money going out such as regular payments, student current accounts and incentives.
The favourite task of the programme was a banking activity where groups of students work together to decipher through a real bank statement from a term at Uni and answer questions such as, what’s the difference between a direct debit and a standing order. Choosing a bank as a student is very important too, topics such as APR Vs AER, ethical banking were covered to make sure young people know their rights when choosing a bank and why banks want your business as a young person…you’re more likely to get divorced in the UK than you are to ever change your bank account!
After the workshops we asked the students if their confidence in certain topics had improved and this was the results we got…
- 100% of students reported a good or better understanding of how student loans work
- 93% of students reported a better understanding of what grants, bursaries and scholarships are
- 80% of students reported a better understanding of the positives and negatives of borrowing
- 93% of students reported their intention to budget their money more regularly
- 60% of students reported their intention to change their spending habits
- 73% of students reported their intention to change something else about their money habits
- 100% of students reported a better understanding of the cost of the things they will be spending their money on whilst at University
- 93% of students reported higher confidence in making important money decisions