The pilot launched on 15 April 2024 and consisted of five custom-built modules delivered to over 70 University of Bristol students through blended learning, webinars and face-to-face mentoring sessions.

The students who choose to enrol on the HL Financial Wellbeing course will get the blueprint for good financial health: how to 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 with increased knowledge typically comes heightened confidence – providing students with the tools to combat financial anxieties.

The content has been tailor-made for students, structured on HL’s 5 to Thrive framework, the five key building blocks for financial resilience.

There are five modules which will be delivered as a blended learning experience. The course will also cover what core employee benefits to look out for when entering the world of work, as well as the role of investments when it comes to growing wealth.

Honor Yue Ai Brown, a University of Bristol Psychology student who took part in the pilot, said: "The course has been an empowering experience, equipping me with the tools to manage my current and future finances effectively.

"I feel less anxious about my current University finances, and more confident in taking the initiative to make informed financial decisions to support my life goals. For example, I now consider employer pension schemes when applying to different graduate jobs." 

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.”

The course is a welcome academic addition to the University’s wider student wellbeing package of financial support for students, which includes daily money advice drop-in sessions, dozens of scholarships and bursaries and a hardship fund.

Prof 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.”

Professor Hood runs the University of Bristol’s ‘Science of Happiness’ course, which teaches students about the latest peer-reviewed studies on happiness. The course was the first of its kind in the UK and has been found to make lasting improvements to students’ mental health.

Steve Hall, Director of Student Experience at the University of Bristol, said: “The wellbeing of our students is at the heart of everything we do, and we are pleased that our students are finding the collaborative course with Hargreaves Lansdown useful.

"Financial wellbeing is key part of overall wellbeing, which is why we offer daily money advice drop-in sessions, scholarships and access to a hardship fund to all our students.”

A post-doctoral researcher funded by the University of Bristol will measure the effectiveness of the Financial Wellbeing course.

This research will also investigate the underlying mechanisms and predictors of financial wellbeing. The longer-term ambition is to extend the availability of these short-skill courses to all 25,000 undergraduate students at University of Bristol on an opt-in basis.

HL is leading the charge on financial resilience; in 2022 it launched its award-winning Savings & Resilience Barometer which measures the State of the Nation’s finances.

It is already working with 31 employers to support the financial wellbeing of employees through the Bristol Financial Resilience Action Group. It now want to extend this to include financial guidance and practical money hacks for University students.