Hunt begins for best money teachers in Britain - with a total of £25,000 offered to winning schools in the Personal Finance Teacher of the Year awards

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The hunt begins tomorrow for the best money teachers in Britain – with a total of £25,000 offered to winning schools in the Personal Finance Teacher of the Year awards.

Both primary and secondary schools can enter the competition, which aims to highlight how youngsters can learn real money skills, managing finances and discovering how to budget in a way that can set them up for life. 

The judges also hope that, through learning about money, pupils can develop greater confidence in maths. 

The hunt begins: Both primary and secondary schools can enter the competition

Topics that might be covered include budgeting, investments, cash savings, interest rates and borrowing.

There are separate primary and secondary school categories for the awards, which are run by investment platform Interactive Investor. 

There is also a Personal Finance Teaching Assistant category and some special runner-up prizes. Teachers can also nominate themselves – but should include a lesson plan as well as a supporting statement about their application.

Past winners have come from a diverse range of schools, including those for special educational needs. According to the financial education charity Young Enterprise, children with special educational needs and disabilities are particularly at risk of being targeted by scammers.

Sharon Davies, chief executive of Young Enterprise, says: 'Criminals prey on youngsters with an incentive to get rich quick. Some children are vulnerable because they do not have the same understanding of what is happening around them as others.'

Richard Wilson, chief executive of Interactive Investor, says: 'In this modern world of buy-now pay-later, sophisticated scams and cryptocurrencies, money skills are as essential as ever. We want to recognise the amazing but often uncelebrated work that teachers do.'

To nominate a teacher or teaching assistant send Interactive Investor an email: teacher@ii.co.uk. This must be sent by September 11 and include details of the teacher's name, plus the name and address of the school.