• Swindon & Wiltshire Education, training and skills
• Thursday February 13 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Cash-strapped students offered financial wellbeing course with Hargreaves Lansdown

Cash-strapped students at the University of Bristol are being offered a course in financial wellbeing by financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown.

Students hit by the cost of living crisis will be equipped with “the tools to combat financial anxieties.”

The roll-out of the course follows a successful pilot in 2024. One hundred and fifty students enrolling on the course will benefit from “a blueprint for good financial health” across five custom-built modules.

The course will help students 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.

And, says Hargreaves Lansdown, with increased knowledge typically comes heightened confidence – providing students with the tools to combat financial anxieties.

More than six in ten students say they had received better financial education at school. And between 2021 and 2023 the percentage of students juggling a job with studies leapt from 34 to 55.

Ninety-one per cent of students say they are either somewhat or very worried about the rising cost of living. Increased costs mean many are taking on extra debt to pay bills.

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.”

Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Bristol, said: “Student wellbeing is a priority for us here at the University of Bristol.

“Debt and money worries play major role in mental health which is why we are delighted to be teaming up with Hargreaves Lansdown to deliver a course that provides some basic fundamentals and practical wisdom for students to better organise their financial situation.”