Lessons in Financial Education (LiFE) | Online Qualification

New registrations for 1 year delivery accepted until July 2024. Registrations for continuing students who have completed LiFE Award (LiFA) accepted until July 2025. No delivery of qualification in academic year 2025/26 and beyond.

About Lessons in Financial Education (LiFE)

LiFE is an online financial education program that aims to ensure more students gain valuable financial awareness. Although the National Curriculum includes financial education, schools continue to have difficulty finding time for it. Our flexible online financial education course is accessible from anywhere and we've mapped it to Mathematics and Citizenship. This helps to meet restraints on teachers' time and resources.

LiFE does not rely on timetabled teaching time. It requires minimal intervention from teaching and support staff. In fact, students can access the course through tutor/mentor time, after-school clubs and other enrichment opportunities. They can study at their own pace on an online learning platform whose content really engages them.

Starting from just £10 per student, LiFE enables students to receive financial education at a fraction of the cost of formal qualifications.

LiFE focuses on:

relevance: it gives real-life engaging activities and contextual maths
flexibility: it's cross-curricular and fits into clubs, enrichment activities and homework
progress: you can observe and track your learners' progress and interaction at every stage
independence: there's minimal need for guidance, students can work at their own pace
employability: it prepares students for adulthood and the world of work.

Read the LiFE Award qualification specification

Read the LiFE Certificate qualification specification

Find out more about how we are using LiFE in our Outreach work with charities and community groups to support financial education for adults and young people across the UK.

Find out more

Units and hours

Students progress through the online units and, on completing them, can access the LiFE Award and Certificate to get a formal recognition of their work.

LiFE is made up of three units and is designed to be taken over a 12 month period. Students can complete the learning independently online, but tutors can monitor their progress. Once students have completed Unit 1, they can take the formal assessment, the LiFE Award. After completing Units 2 and 3, they can take the formal assessment, the LiFE Certificate.

The LiFE Award (601/8967/8) has a Total Qualification Time (TQT) of 48.5 hours, including 25 Guided Learning Hours (GLH). The LiFE Certificate (603/1933/1) has a Total Qualification Time (TQT) of 200 hours, including 120 Guided Learning Hours (GLH).

Unit 1 - Your Personal Finances (T/508/5292)

1) Money
2) Sources of money
3) Storing money safely
4) Spending and budgeting
5) Saving and selling
6) Borrowing
7) What is insurance
8) How do we keep our money safe?

Unit 2 - Money Management For Your Generation (M/615/8346)

1) Modern banking
2) Pay and pay calculations
3) Types of payment card
4) The cost of borrowing
5) Using money abroad
6) Financial difficulties and their consequences
7) Financial advice and protection
8) Investing money

Unit 3 - Financial Careers and Financial Sustainability (A/615/8348)

1) Employability: applying for a job
2) Roles and career paths
3) Managing and planning finance
4) Financial sustainability
5) Interest, inflation and savings

(It) Gives young people the skills, knowledge and confidence to plan for all financial eventualities in life Kiran Ranchod Uxbridge High School, Curriculum Leader for Vocational Education and Work Related Learning

Progression

Students can progress through the programme, gradually building on their skills and challenging themselves to proceed to the next level. Once they have completed the qualification, they may want to progress onto our Level 3 qualifications which carry the maximum UCAS points or make a good foundation for those considering an apprenticeship.

LiFE Programme
The LiFE Programme covers all three units, but is not formally assessed. The programme records students 'feelings and understanding' before and after each topic so their progress is clearly displayed. Each topic includes a 'check your understanding' activity and short multiple-choice quiz to make sure students have improved their knowledge before they move onto the next topic and unit. At the end of each unit students will receive a Certificate of Completion.

LiFE Award
The Level 1 LiFE Award is the formal assessment for Unit 1. Students must have completed Unit 1 of the LiFE Programme to be assessed. Students are tested via our e-test platform and are able to resit twice.

LiFE Certificate
Students who have achieved the LiFE Award will be able to progress to the Level 1/2 LiFE Certificate, which is awarded to those who have passed the formal assessment for Units 2 and 3. Students must have completed the learning for Units 2 and 3 before the assessment and are tested via our e-test platform. Students are able to resit each unit twice.

Assessment

Unit 1
30 stand-alone multiple-choice questions (total marks 30), to be completed in 30 minutes.

Unit 2
15 stand-alone multiple-choice questions and 4 case studies each with 5 associated questions (total marks 35), to be completed in 45 minutes.

Unit 3
15 stand-alone multiple-choice questions and 4 case studies each with 5 associated questions (total marks 35), to be completed in 45 minutes.

Grading

To achieve the LiFE Award, students need to pass Unit 1 and achieve 50% of the marks available.

The LiFE Certificate is a Level 1/2 qualification and the qualification grade is calculated on the total number of marks achieved across all three units. Each unit will be graded as a pass or a fail.

There are 100 marks available across the qualification. The table below shows available grades and amount of marks required to achieve those grades:

Grade	Marks needed out of 100
Level 1 pass	35-44
Level 1 Merit	45-49
Level 2 Pass	50-59
Level 2 Merit	60-69
Level 2 Distinction	70-79
Level 2 Distinction*	80-100

If a Level 1 grade is not achieved, students will receive a fail and will not be certificated. However, they will receive a Certificate of Completion as evidence of their participation.

SEND Guide resources for Unit 1

Children, young people and adults with SEND are especially vulnerable when it comes to managing money, which is something we hope LiFE and the SEND Guide will address. Accompanying LiFE, there is a comprehensive SEND Guide which contains a variety of resources, from transcripts and progress charts to sensory activities. This allows all learners to access the crucial life skill of money management.

We have worked collaboratively with the experts at SNAAP (Special Needs Activities and Advisory Project), a special needs charity to ensure the SEND Guide for LiFE meets the needs of all learners. The resources have been piloted by the children and families at SNAAP, and as a working document we will continue to develop the resources in this guide.

Progress charts
Individual learning plans
Printable quizzes and surveys
Feedback & reflection sheets (for learners to draw or write about what they have learnt)
Blank certificate (to celebrate a learners personal milestone achievements or progress)
Additional activities – sensory, creative, discussion, role play, maths, research etc
Transcripts suitable for screen readers (available upon request)

Download our SEND LiFE leaflet