Request a speaker for your school

What we offer

State schools in the UK can request a free one-hour visit from one of our Bank Ambassadors. 

Our Bank Ambassadors work at the Bank of England in a wide range of roles. They can talk to your students about the economy, what the Bank of England does, and share their own career stories.

There are several talks to choose from and we can tailor them for a specific age group or subject area. 

We are now offering a hybrid mix of physical and virtual visits to schools.

We reserve the right to move a visit online if we deem necessary, without explanation and possibly at short notice depending upon local circumstances.

Helping students learn about careers 

A visit from one of our Bank Ambassadors can support your school’s careers programme. It will help you achieve Gatsby benchmarks on:

• linking the curriculum to careers (benchmark 4)
• student encounters with employers and employees (benchmark 5).

Research by the charity Speakers for Schools shows that:

• 93% of teachers say guest speakers help broaden students’ job aspirations
• 87% of teachers say guest speakers tackle stereotypes about jobs and careers. 

Why we visit schools

We believe understanding how the economy works is important. It can help to establish good personal finance skills, spark an interest in the study of economics, and inform career choices.

But a relatively small number of students study economics as a subject. In 2023, 7,572 students took GCSE economics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Compare that to the number who took GCSE geography (293,319) or business studies (123,166), for example. 

We also know there is a keen lack of diversity in the economics profession.

So we want to do something about these things. We offer our school visit programme to state schools to help widen participation in the academic study of economics and inspire the next generation of economists.

We’re working with the Royal Economic Society on their ‘Discover Economics’ campaign. It aims to encourage more students to choose economics as a subject and a career. We hope our visits to state schools contribute to this effort.

Talk topics

We offer four types of talks that cover different subjects and age ranges. As part of each talk, the Bank Ambassador can also talk about their own career.

What does the Bank of England do?

Best for: 11 to 18 year olds
We are the UK’s central bank and have an important role in the economy. This talk covers what we do and how we’re different to a high street bank. 

Economics in practice

Best for: 16 to 18 year old studying A’ Level Economics (or equivalent)
This talk will look at the work economists do at the Bank of England including monetary and financial stability. It can be adapted to focus on a key aspect of the further education curriculum.  

Introduction to Financial Services

Best for: 11 to 18 year olds
This talk introduces the UK financial services sector, including exploring careers and opportunities at the Bank of England.  

Technology at the Bank of England

Best for: 11 to 18 year olds 
This talk looks at how information technology is a vital part of our work. For example, we support systems that process millions of pounds worth of payments every day. We use large amounts of data to inform our decisions. And we’re very focused on cyber security.

What you need to know 

• There is no charge for the visit or talk
• This offer is only open to state secondary schools, sixth-form colleges and further education colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• We give priority to schools who have not had a visit from us before but may consider more than one visit if we have capacity

How to organise a visit 

1. Decide which of the talks we offer is most suitable for your class or year group.
You may want to bring a number of classes together or ask our Bank Ambassador to address an assembly. 

2. Complete our online request form.
We will find a suitable Bank Ambassador and introduce you to them by email so you can liaise with them directly. Waiting times vary and we cannot always guarantee your preferred date(s).

3. Respond to our emails promptly.
If we do not hear from you within two weeks, we may need to cancel the visit. 

4. Confirm the date and time of the visit with the Bank Ambassador.

5. Let the Bank Ambassador know your objectives.
For example, is it to support a particular subject area or to give a general overview as part of the careers programme? Please give details about the age of your students so we can tailor the talk. 

6. Prepare your students. 
Tell your students about the visit. Ask them to think of questions they’d like to ask. If possible, share these questions with the Bank Ambassador in advance.

7. Confirm the logistics. 
The Bank Ambassador is likely to have a digital presentation so please consider this when selecting a venue.

Please arrange for yourself or a colleague to meet them when they arrive at your school. Our staff do not have Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance so you cannot leave them on their own with students. 

8. Tell us if there are any changes. 
If you have any questions, or need to cancel or change your visit please contact us at education.programme@bankofengland.co.uk.

On the day 

9. Introduce the Bank Ambassador to your staff and students and remain with them to ensure the session runs smoothly. Please allow enough time. We suggest they give a 15-30 minute talk followed by 15-30 minutes of questions and discussion.

10. Please share your experience of your visit on Twitter and Facebook using #BoESchoolTalks.

After the visit 

11. Consider follow-up lessons relating to the curriculum or careers.

12. Your feedback is important. Please complete the online evaluation we will send you.

Terms and conditions

By completing our request form you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. We do our best to honour our bookings but we cannot guarantee against staff unavailability, illness, adverse weather conditions, transport problems, or other factors beyond our reasonable control. 

If we cannot complete a planned visit, we will tell you as soon as possible and offer you the opportunity to make alternative arrangements.

If you can no longer host the scheduled visit, please tell us as soon as possible to allow us to either cancel the visit or reschedule it for a later date.

Other educational resources we offer

We are keen to improve understanding of the economy and what we do. The educational resources we offer include:

Post-16 resources

We have curated some of our resources to help students learn about macroeconomics and the role of the Bank of England. These resources link to the GCSE and A level economics syllabus.

Free lesson plans

Our classroom resource, EconoME, is intended for teachers of pupils aged 11-16 and is linked to the PSHE curriculum. The three lessons contain interactive activities, videos and case studies to help students understand how their decisions are affected by and influence the economy. 

Explainers

Our explainers offer bite-size guides to explain key economic concepts in a simple and jargon-free way.

Bank of England Museum 

Our free museum explains our history and what we do. You can book a free presentation for groups of between 15 and 50 students. Advance booking is essential.

Places we visited

This map shows where we have given talks in secondary schools and colleges.