FCA-verified · Independent ratings · Updated weekly

Learning center

From your first pip to a written trading plan.

Nine sequenced academies covering the mechanics, the analysis and the risk discipline — plus every topic page in our library. Free to read, no account required.

Every page on this site is written by the research desk, checked against the regulator's public register before publication and dated so you can see how current it is. Where we quote a cost, a spread or a protection limit, it comes from documentation the firm publishes itself rather than from marketing copy. Use the buttons below to jump straight to the comparison tools, the full review library or the method we follow.
Editor's pick, #1 of 2026★★★★★4.9
IG logo

IG, Best Broker 2026

FCA regulated, FSCS £85K, since 1974

Rated 4.9 out of 5 after live-account testing by the desk.

Min spread

0.6 pips

Min deposit

£0

Regulator

FCA

Best for

Deepest UK market coverage

  • FCA authorised and on the public register
  • Client money segregated, FSCS cover to £85,000
  • Web, MT4, ProRealTime
  • Retail leverage capped at 1:30

CFDs are complex instruments. Your capital is at risk.

On this page

What the academy covers, and the order to read it in

The academy is built as a sequence rather than a pile of articles. It starts with the mechanics of a trade — what a pip is, what a lot is, how leverage multiplies both sides of an outcome and where the three separate charges on every position come from — before it goes anywhere near strategy, because a method you cannot cost accurately is not a method.

The middle academies cover analysis: reading price action without indicators, then adding indicators deliberately rather than decoratively, then testing whether what you believe about a market survives contact with a sample size large enough to mean something. Each lesson is written so you can apply it the same day on a small live position rather than filing it away as theory.

The final academies deal with the part that decides most outcomes — risk. Position sizing derived from stop distance, the asymmetric arithmetic of drawdown, correlation between positions that look independent but are not, and the discipline of writing a plan down before the market opens so a losing trade cannot quietly rewrite your reasoning.

Below the academies you will find the full topic library grouped by market, and the brokers our desk currently rates highest for learners — accounts with small minimum deposits, honest pricing and platforms that do not punish a beginner for being one.

Start here

The nine academies

1

Forex Trading Academy

  • Introduction to forex trading
  • Fundamental analysis
  • Money management
Open the guide →
2

Price Action Academy

  • Trading with the trend
  • Ranges, breakouts and pullbacks
  • Spotting trend reversals
Open the guide →
3

Day Trading Academy

  • Introduction to day trading
  • Major currency profiles
  • Session-based strategies
Open the guide →
4

Trading Strategies

  • Moving average crossovers
  • Combining SMAs and EMAs
  • Stochastics with an EMA filter
Open the guide →
5

Technical Indicators

  • Aroon indicator
  • Aroon oscillator
  • Balance of power
Open the guide →
6

Social Trading Academy

  • Introduction to copy trading
  • Risk management for copiers
  • Picking a strategy provider
Open the guide →
7

Bitcoin Guide

  • What bitcoin is good at
  • Is bitcoin regulated?
  • Leverage and margin in crypto
Open the guide →
8

Currency Pair Strategies

  • Trading EUR/USD
  • Trading USD/JPY
  • Trading GBP/USD
Open the guide →
9

MetaTrader 4 Guide

  • Why traders still use MT4
  • The main menu explained
  • Orders and execution
Open the guide →

Every page in the library

Browse by topic

Watch

Video tutorials

How oil futures contracts really settle08:24
WTI and Brent: why the spread matters06:11
Mapping the world's oil producing regions09:47

Practise somewhere safe

FCA brokers with free demo accounts

01
IG logo
IG★★★★★4.9

FCA regulated, since 1974

Deepest UK market coverage. Web, MT4, ProRealTime.

Deepest UK market coverageFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.6 pips

Spread

02
CMC Markets logo
CMC Markets★★★★★4.9

FCA regulated, since 1989

Best-in-class charting. Next Generation, MT4.

Best-in-class chartingFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.7 pips

Spread

03
Pepperstone logo
Pepperstone★★★★★4.9

FCA regulated, since 2010

Lowest all-in FX cost. MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView.

Lowest all-in FX costFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.0 pips

Spread

04
Interactive Brokers logo
Interactive Brokers★★★★★4.8

FCA regulated, since 1978

Global multi-asset access. TWS, IBKR Desktop, API.

Global multi-asset accessFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.2 pips

Spread

05
Saxo logo
Saxo★★★★★4.8

FCA regulated, since 1992

Institutional-grade platform. SaxoTraderGO, PRO.

Institutional-grade platformFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.6 pips

Spread

06
XTB logo
XTB★★★★★4.8

FCA regulated, since 2002

Cleanest proprietary platform. xStation 5.

Cleanest proprietary platformFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.5 pips

Spread

07
Spreadex logo
Spreadex★★★★★4.7

FCA regulated, since 1999

Strong UK service desk. Web, mobile.

Strong UK service deskFSCS £85KLeverage 1:30

£0

Deposit

0.6 pips

Spread