LiFE programme
£10
per unit, three units
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Financial education qualifications
New registrations for one 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.
LiFE gives students an online financial education on a 'learn by doing' basis looking at personal finances, money management and financial careers through accessible online learning.
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.
About the qualification
LiFE focuses on:
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relevance: it gives real-life engaging activities and contextual maths
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flexibility: it's cross-curricular and fits into clubs, enrichment activities and homework
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progress: you can observe and track your learners' progress and interaction at every stage
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independence: there's minimal need for guidance, students can work at their own pace
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employability: it prepares students for adulthood and the world of work.
Unit information
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).
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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?
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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 mone
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1) Employability: applying for a job
2) Roles and career paths
3) Managing and planning finance
4) Financial sustainability
5) Interest, inflation and savings
What progression do our LiFE qualifications offer?
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
he 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.
Assessments
All four units can be assessed by paper based examination or by the LIBF e-test electronic testing system.
Each unit is assessed through a combination of Multiple Choice Questions (Part A) and a written paper (Part B).
Unit 1 and Unit 2
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Part A: 35 multiple choice questions in a 45-minute examination.
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Part B: pre-release case study requiring essay responses in a 105-minute examination.
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Part B will also assess spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) through the essay responses.
Unit 3 and Unit 4
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Part A: 35 multiple choice questions in a 1-hour examination.
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Part B: pre-release case study requiring essay responses in a 2-hour examination.
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Part B will also assess spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG) through the essay responses.
Fees
LiFE Award
£20
Having completed a formal assessment of unit 1 learning, students can achieve a Level 1 qualification, meaning a combined cost of £20.
LiFE Certificate
£60
Having completed all units and assessments for each unit, students can achieve a Level 1/Level 2 qualification, meaning a combined cost of £60.
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.
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Progress charts
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Individual learning plans
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Printable quizzes and surveys
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Feedback & reflection sheets (for learners to draw or write about what they have learnt)
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Blank certificate (to celebrate a learners personal milestone achievements or progress)
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Additional activities – sensory, creative, discussion, role play, maths, research etc
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Transcripts suitable for screen readers (available upon request).
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Course requirements
There are no specified entry requirements, but the level of achievement required to obtain AiFE is at Level 2 on the RQF. Applicants need to be sure they can study, in English, at this level.
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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:
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Professional qualifications
Due to the withdrawal of the LiFE programme and associated qualification, no further registrations can be accepted for this qualification
LiFE FAQs
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No, as we provide topic hand outs and suggested activities that can be used in an alternative classroom setting. Learners can then follow up independently by accessing the programme and completing the topic and activities.
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Yes, specimen papers are available for tutors to access on the course site. A video demonstrating the e-learning platform is also available via our website showing learners what to expect. Specimen papers are available for each unit, as PDFs or as online e-tests.
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Registered centre staff have access to reset learners' passwords via MyLIBF login.
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If you are already running the LiFE Programme you can tick a box next to the learner name and press submit to register them for the LiFE Award via MyLIBF.
Alternatively you can contact the Financial Capability Support team who will talk you through the process.
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Contextual mathematics is experienced throughout Unit 1 and Unit 2 but the more engaging activities are contained within Unit 2.
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In the first instance, please contact our Financial Capability Co-ordinator at fccrm@libf.ac.uk or your regional Customer Relationship Manager, whose details you will find via your MyLIBF.
If your query relates to a technical issue with the LiFE materials, then please read the Brightspace and Associated Tools Whitelisting document. If this does not help, then please contact fcexams@libf.ac.uk. -
Unit 1 LiFE Programme - £10
Unit 2 and 3 LiFE Programme - £20
Unit 1 formal assessment (Level 1 LiFE Award) - £10
Unit 2 and Unit 3 formal assessment (Level 1/2 LiFE Certificate - £20
Each resit attempt - £10
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Yes. LiFE tutors have additional online functions to monitor individual learners' progress. They can see the last time they logged on and what stage the learner has reached. They can also view the results of each survey and end of topic quiz, and track progress. Spreadsheets of this data can be downloaded into Microsoft Excel and used to demonstrate progression and predict results.
Questions about our financial education programmes?
If you have any questions about our financial education programmes for schools and colleges, please get in touch with our team.
