Since December 2007, over 800 students in Bradford District have taken part in the Personal Economics course run by Young Enterprise, in partnership with Bradford Kickstart.

The course, delivered by business volunteers from companies such as Digitalife, YBS, Sainsburys, Bombay Stores and The University of Bradford, covers vital life skills – and is designed to help students cope with money and working when they leave school or college. It offers a hands-on, practical introduction to personal finance, credit and debt, savings and investments, and budgeting. Using role-play and real-life experiences, the course has helped foster practical relationships between schools, colleges, businesses and the local community - whilst allowing young people to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of business and enterprise.

There are five key parts to the course:

1.Get a Life – Pupils are given a case study character and are asked to examine their life maps. They are asked to think about and draw their own life maps.

2.Get Earning – This looks at getting a job. Pupils look at a job advertisement and are given four samples of application forms. They are then asked to decide who they thought would be suitable for the post and consider interviews do’s and don’ts. They also look at wage slips, cheque books, PAYE, National Insurance, utility bills, mortgages, and other bills.

3.Get Spending – This session covers spending dilemmas, such as can things be afforded? They also talk about debt, loans, credit cards, bank statements and transactions, and savings.

4.Get Saving – Pupils discuss making financial plans for the future, including investments (risk and rewards), savings and pensions.

5.Get Going – A review of the whole program through the ‘Life Map Living’ board game. Case study characters are faced with decisions they need to make in order to follow their life map from school through to pension.

For more information about the Personal Economics course contact Young Enterprise on 01274 669407.

Picture: Students from Salt Grammar playing the ‘Life Map Living’ board game.