Words that Count: Financial literacy for 14 to 19-year-olds

Words that Count is a free financial literacy programme run by the National Literacy Trust and created in partnership with Experian and Foundation 92. Now in its fifth year, the campaign aims to work in collaboration with football foundations, community organisations and education organisations to empower young people aged 14 to 19 to feel more confident and informed about making their own financial decisions.

The programme includes six in-person workshops delivered by a member of staff, covering topics such as income, tax, budgeting, debt, credit, money mindset, and money safety. Additionally, a complementary digital campaign supports the initiative. This campaign features well-known influencers in the field of financial well-being sharing their tips and advice on TikTok and Instagram.

This year we have collaborated with TikTok star Cameron Smith as an official Words that Count campaign influencer! He is joined by fellow content creators Lewis Rambles and Property By Kazy, each of whom has provided some helpful advice for young people on financial issues directly related to them.

• How to check the financial advice you're receiving online with Cazzatime
• How to spot gateways into online gambling with Lewis Rambles
• Three Important Steps to Help You Buy Your First Home with Kazy

Literacy skills play a crucial role in enabling young people to bolster their financial resilience. Integrating financial education into literacy lessons throughout a young person’s education proves to be highly effective. In 2019, we published a report exploring the association between literacy and financial capability.

We found that:

• Children and young people who have good reading skills are four times as likely to have good financial skills than their peers who have poor reading skills (35.6% vs 8.8%)
• Children and young people who have poor reading skills are four times as likely to also have poor financial skills (56.3% vs 12.3%)

Students on the programme improve their understanding and confidence of financial literacy. Our evaluations since the programme launched in 2022 have shown that:

• Almost all students agreed that they knew why it was important to save money following the programme (90.7%).
• More than 4 in 5 (85.8%) said they are better at managing their money, and 80.6% had increased their knowledge on where to get money advice.
• More than 4 in 5 had an improved understanding in all financial concepts, such as security and saving (87.3%) and debt and credit (86.5%).

The programme training also positively impacted on deliverers’ knowledge and confidence to support their learners’ financial literacy:

• 100% of deliverers trained reported that the training improved their understanding of the importance of financial literacy.
• 100% would recommend our training to another setting.

We are looking to work with community organisations and education settings in England that work with disadvantaged young people, aged 14-19.

Each setting will receive resources, including:

• Student workbook
• Lesson PowerPoints with delivery notes
• Lesson plans
• Glossaries
• Activity cards
• Leader guide

You can register your interest in delivering Words the Count in 2025/26 by completing the relevant form below.

If you have any enquiries relating to this programme, please email sport@literacytrust.org.uk.

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