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CLF vs Trading Qualification Providers.

The full comparison of syllabus authorship, prices and the qualification ladder is being finished properly. Every claim checked against the registers.

Explore the pathwaysStart with Level 2
CLF vs London Academy of Trading, Samuel & Co, Stellar & every trading qualification provider

Every provider sells a qualification.
Ask who wrote it.

The verdict in 20 seconds

Here is the difference that decides everything else. Accredited providers such as London Academy of Trading, Samuel & Co Trading and Stellar Education deliver an awarding body's off-the-shelf specification: one generic syllabus, licensed to whoever gets approved to teach it, revised on the awarding body's timetable, not the market's. Come Learn Forex (CLF) writes its own qualifications: built by our traders from what happens on our floors, tested live with students for years, and submitted for approval only once proven. Everything else, the £120 entry, the Level 2 to Level 7 ladder, the Stargate platform, exists because we own the curriculum. They rent theirs.

Test the difference · £120 See the full pathway

How we compared: each provider's published pages and the public qualification register, verified 4 July 2026. We credit what each does well. Spot an error? Tell us and we will correct it.

The main event

Off the shelf, or built and proven.

Markets move daily. A licensed specification is written once, taught everywhere, and revised when the paperwork cycle allows. A curriculum built on live floors is corrected every time the market disagrees with it.

The usual model · rent the syllabus
SPECone document
Centre A
Centre B
Centre C
1
An awarding body writes a specificationOne generic document covering financial trading in general.
2
Centres license and deliver itThe same syllabus, taught by many providers. The classroom differs; the document does not.
3
Revised on the awarding body's timetableMarkets move daily. Specification cycles do not.
The CLF model · own the syllabus
FLOORlive markets
Built
Tested, for years
Then approved
1
We build the curriculum ourselvesWritten by our traders, from what actually happens on our floors, using our own techniques: mid-term analysis, unique trade confirmation, realistic day trading.
2
Students test it live, for yearsRefined cohort after cohort against real, current markets before anyone stamps it.
3
Then we submit it for approvalAccreditation confirms a qualification that was already proven, not the other way round.

Same register, different origin story. One is a licence to teach a document. The other is a curriculum that earned its approval.

The difference, animated

The life of a syllabus, both versions.

From first draft to your classroom
The five ways people learn to trade

Every route asks for trust. Only some can prove it.

Self-taughtYouTube · forums No syllabus at all
The guru course£500 to £5,000+ One person's opinions
The university degree£9,250 a year, three years Theory-heavy, market-light
Single-level providersLAT · Samuel & Co · Stellar Someone else's syllabus
The full pathwayCLF · Level 2 to Level 7 Our syllabus, £120 to test

Four routes teach you someone else's material, or none at all. One route is taught by the people who wrote it.

The pathway

Most providers sell a level. CLF built the ladder.

Owning the curriculum is why the ladder exists at all: you cannot build Level 2 into Level 7 out of documents someone else controls.

L2Level 2 in Retail Trading£120 all-in
L3Level 3 in Retail TradingFour-month mentorship
L5Level 5 Diploma in Financial TradingDegree-equivalent level
CISICISI exam preparationThe regulated-career route
L7Level 7Launching soon
Most accredited providers offer one of these, once, from a licensed specification. When it ends, so does the relationship.
Side by side

Three kinds of provider, one table.

What matters
University routedegree in finance
Other qualification providersLAT · Samuel & Co · Stellar & more
CLFthe pathway
Who wrote the syllabus
−Academics, on academic cycles
−An awarding body's generic spec
✓Built in-house, student-tested for years, then approved
How it stays current
−Curriculum review cycles
−Specification revision cycles
✓Corrected live on our own floors
Cost to test it
✕£9,250 a year, three years
−~£2,000+ up front
✓£120, taught live
Accreditation you can check
✓Yes, university
✓Yes, regulated
✓Approved Centre No. 38286404878
Progression after the course
−A three-year degree, then out
−Usually one level, then out
✓Level 2 to Level 7 + CISI prep
Platform included
✕Rarely
✕Not typically
✓Stargate + Pip AI
Support after payment
−Lecturers and seminars
−Tutor support
✓Human team + webinars + community
Physical trading floors
−Simulation labs, sometimes
−Usually one location
✓London, New York, Dubai, KL
Income promises
✓Never
✓Not typically
✓Never. Education, not hype

Provider facts from their published pages, verified 4 July 2026: Stellar Education lists its online Level 5 at £1,987 and Level 3 at £724; Samuel & Co teaches its regulated Level 5 over 12 weeks full-time from Kings Langley or online; London Academy of Trading delivers a Level 5 Diploma in Applied Financial Trading in London; Financial ELearning offers an online Level 3 Diploma completed in 4 to 6 weeks; London School of International Business lists its online Level 5 from around £902; WTD offers a Level 5 Advanced Diploma of 270 guided learning hours aimed at support roles. CLF: Level 2 £120 all-in, exam included; Level 3 from £4,400 with a £500 refundable deposit; prices published in full on this site.

Verify, do not trust

Everything we claim, you can check.

The named players

Credit where it is due, and where it stops.

London Academy of TradingLicensed spec
Level 5, Applied Financial TradingLondon basedEstablished academy

A genuine, well-regarded academic route to a Level 5 diploma in the capital. The teaching is theirs; the syllabus is an awarding body's, and the pathway ends where ours begins to climb.

Full head-to-head coming
Samuel & Co TradingLicensed spec
Regulated Level 512 weeks full-timeTrader work experience

A regulated Level 5 with a genuine work-experience offer inside an established firm. Strong single step, delivered from a specification they license rather than one they wrote.

Full head-to-head coming
Stellar EducationLicensed spec
Level 5 listed £1,987Level 3 listed £724Futures focused

Fully online regulated qualifications at honest prices. Self-paced delivery of an awarding body's syllabus; no floors, no platform, no ladder.

Full head-to-head coming
Financial ELearningLicensed spec
Level 3 Diploma, online4 to 6 weeks self-paced18 RQF credits

A fast, fully online route to a regulated Level 3 with a recognised certificate at the end. Efficient credentialing of a licensed syllabus; no floors, no live mentorship.

Full head-to-head coming
London School of International BusinessLicensed spec
Level 5, onlineListed from ~£9029-month programme

One of the most affordable online routes to a Level 5 diploma. Distance delivery of an awarding body's syllabus, priced honestly for what it is.

Full head-to-head coming
WTDLicensed spec
Level 5 Advanced Diploma270 guided learning hoursSupport-role focused

A Level 5 aimed at back office, trade support and investment administration careers rather than trading itself. A different destination, honestly signposted.

Full head-to-head coming
The honest bit

When someone else is genuinely the right call.

✓A licensed spec is still a real qualificationExternally set, externally quality-assured, regulated. Off the shelf does not mean illegitimate; it means generic.
✓You want an investment-banking careerA university degree plus internships is still the front door to institutional desks. Take it.
✓You want work experience inside a firmSamuel & Co's trader work-experience offer alongside its Level 5 is a genuine differentiator.
✓You want the cheapest regulated route onlineStellar's listed pricing is honest value if self-paced online study suits you.
✓You already work in financeYou may not need a pathway at all; sitting CISI exams directly could be the faster move.
But ask the question this page is built on: who wrote the material, and when did a live market last correct it? If the answer is "an awarding body, on its revision cycle," you now know exactly what you are buying. Ours is corrected every trading day, by the people who teach it.
The £120 test

Do not trust this page either. Test it.

1Check us firstVerify Approved Centre No. 38286404878, read the 161 Trustpilot reviews, search the founder.
→
2Sit Level 2 for £120Two days inside our own curriculum, taught live by the people who wrote it. An accredited qualification either way.
→
3Climb only if it earns itLevel 3 holds your place with a £500 refundable deposit. The ladder is there when you want it.
Take the £120 test See the full pathway
Questions

The obvious questions.

We do. Our traders build the curriculum from what happens on our own floors, including our techniques of mid-term analysis, unique trade confirmation and realistic day trading. Students then test it live, cohort after cohort, for years. Only once it has proven itself against current markets do we submit it for accreditation. Most providers work the other way round: they license a finished specification from an awarding body and teach it.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. London Academy of Trading, Samuel & Co Trading and Stellar Education all offer genuine regulated qualifications. The structural differences: their syllabus is an awarding body's off-the-shelf specification while ours is written in-house and student-proven before approval; we start at £120 rather than four figures; and we run a connected pathway from Level 2 to Level 7 with CISI exam preparation, with the Stargate platform, trading floors and a human support team throughout.
Because the entry point is where trust should be tested, not where profit is made. £120 covers the two-day accredited qualification, exam and certificate included, taught by the people who wrote it. If the teaching is not worth continuing with, the cost of being wrong stays small. Passing the included exam unlocks a 30-day Stargate trial plus two live webinars a week.
Five checks before paying anyone, including us: an approved-centre or qualification number you can look up on the public register; prices published openly rather than revealed on a sales call; a named founder and teachers you can search; independent reviews on a platform they do not control; and the question this page is built on, who actually wrote the syllabus. A provider failing two or more of those is asking for faith, not trust.
No, and nobody honest will. Trading involves substantial risk, most retail traders lose money, and any provider promising income is showing you a red flag, not an opportunity. What we commit to is the education, the qualification, the platform and the support; outcomes belong to the market and to you.

Stop renting someone else's syllabus.
Learn from the people who wrote it.

Take the £120 test

Written by the Come Learn Forex team, led by founder Shoaib Ghauri. Published 4 July 2026, updated 5 July 2026. Competitor facts from their public pages and the public qualification register; corrections welcome. Education, not financial advice. Trading involves risk.