Accounts, mortgages, borrowing, pensions, credit scores, insurance. The week-by-week mechanics of dealing with banks and lenders.
Set Up Your Month
H056 · 2.1.1
Set-up simulation 8 mins
Students set up how Priya, 18, pays for a month of real life: rent, a variable energy bill, the food shop, a laptop she cannot afford outright, paying a friend back, a Marketplace bike, a subscription, and a crypto tip. They choose a payment method for each, then play the month and watch the consequences. The distinctions land through outcomes: direct debit versus standing order, debit versus credit, instant Faster Payments, the risks of cash, and why nothing "only goes up".
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Account Match
H056 · 2.1.2
Scenario quiz 7 mins
Eight people in sequence, from an 18-year-old starting university to someone saving for a first home. Students match each to the right specification-named account: student, standard and paid-for current accounts, easy access and fixed-rate savings, Cash and Lifetime ISAs, and Premium Bonds. A second round matches the current-account facilities (debit card, direct debit, standing order, overdraft, ATM) to everyday uses. Some scenarios have more than one defensible answer; the feedback explains why.
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Climbing the Ladder
H056 · 2.1.3
Mortgage decision sim 10 mins
Students take out a mortgage, choosing between four product types (fixed rate, variable, tracker, offset) against three interest-rate futures: rising, falling, or volatile. The sim runs the first five years of the mortgage, the decision window that sits within a 25-year term, and shows the total interest paid over those five years for each scenario. They learn that the best product depends on the rate environment they expect, and that no single answer is "right" before you decide what you think rates will do.
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Borrowing Costs
H056 · 2.1.3
Slider explorer 5 mins
Two sliders (amount and term) drive a live comparison of the four specification-named short-term products: credit card, arranged overdraft, personal loan, and buy now pay later. Each shows a representative APR, the monthly repayment, the total repaid, and a non-price consideration. The lesson lands visually: the same sum borrowed can cost very different amounts, and the cheapest headline rate is not always the right choice. You must be 18 to borrow.
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The Forecourt
H056 · 2.1.3
Finance comparison 8 mins
The same car, four ways to pay: cash, a personal loan, hire purchase, and PCP. A price slider and term control drive a live comparison of deposit, monthly payment and total cost, alongside the thing students most often get wrong: who owns the car, and when. PCP has the lowest monthly payment, but you only own the car if you pay the final balloon; HP is yours only after the last payment, and can be repossessed. A match-the-driver round ties it together.
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State Pension Estimator
H056 · 2.1.6
Slider estimator 5 mins
Two sliders: how many qualifying National Insurance years a student expects to build, and their current age. The headline panel shows the weekly and annual State Pension in today's money. Six "what it actually buys" cards (food shop, rent, energy, holiday) shift as the figure changes. Students see that the full new State Pension is £241.30 a week at 2026/27 rates, enough for the basics but not for a comfortable retirement.
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Five-year credit sim 10 mins
Students start at age 18 with no credit history. Over five years (sixty months) they choose how to handle credit decisions: take out a mobile contract, open a credit card, miss a payment, apply for a loan. The credit score rises and falls in response. They learn what actually builds a credit file (consistent payment history, low utilisation, longevity) and what wrecks it in seconds (missed payments, multiple applications, defaults).
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The Insurance Pile
H056 · 2.1.4
Scenario quiz 7 mins
Eight scenarios a run, seeded so every core type appears: a kitchen fire, a stolen phone, a cancer diagnosis, a broken leg on holiday. For each, students pick which of the six specification-named insurance types would have helped (car with its three cover levels, critical illness, buildings, contents, life, travel), or "none of these" where standard cover does not apply. The debrief defines premium, excess, claim and policy, and includes a reference card of every core type.
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