Around 6,600 young people have participated in the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Personal Finance Society’s (PFS) personal finance and insurance virtual work experiences since launch in October 2023.
Developed in partnership with Springpod, these programmes have been designed to bring the finance profession to life for young people across the UK.
So far, over 2,300 students have engaged with the insurance programme, while personal finance has attracted over 4,200 participants.
Commenting on how the programme has shifted their view on careers in finance, one participant said that before taking part, they felt “unsure and intimidated by finance”.
“Learning about personal finance and the different financial careers has completely changed that – I now feel confident, motivated and genuinely excited about the possibility of working in this industry.”
A participant of the insurance programme shared similar feedback, explaining that the programme “genuinely changed how I see the insurance industry”.
“Before starting, I didn’t realise how many different roles existed, but the modules broke everything down clearly and helped me understand what working in insurance is actually like.”
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The institutions said the virtual nature of these programmes removes traditional socio-economic barriers, which is reflected in course enrolment.
48% of insurance programme participants are female and 57% are of non-white ethnicity, with 18% eligible for free school meals.
Similarly, 44% of those registered for the personal finance programme are female and 66% of non-white ethnicity. Twenty one per cent were eligible for free school meals.
Participants reported a 27% boost in ‘excellent awareness of careers in this sector’ after completing the insurance careers programme, while those involved with the personal finance programme saw a 24% increase.
Adam Harper, executive director of strategy, advocacy and professional standards at the CII, added: “The CII is committed to advocating for insurance and personal finance careers and educating the next generation on the broad range of career paths that are available.
“We’re delighted that so many young people have engaged with our Springpod virtual work experience programmes, and particularly that many of the participants come from groups who are typically underrepresented within our sector.”
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