Competitions · Business and economics · LIBF Student Investor Challenge
The LIBF Student Investor Challenge has been discontinued in China.
The China region stopped after 2024. It was the competition that let a fifteen-year-old trade a simulated hundred thousand dollars and come away with an Ofqual-regulated finance qualification - so it is worth knowing what to look for instead.
Current status
Discontinued in the China region from 2025.
The notice appears in the middle of the introduction on the material still circulating, while the dates, registration details and fees around it read as though a season were open.
The China region has ended
Any page giving China-region preliminary or final dates is describing the 2024 cycle or earlier.
The institute itself continues
The London Institute of Banking and Finance was founded in 1879 by the British Bankers’ Association, holds a Royal Charter, and has students and alumni in more than 120 countries. Its qualifications are unaffected.
Which means the certification may still be reachable
The competition was one route to LIBF’s financial capability certification. If that qualification was the point, it is worth asking the institute directly whether another route exists.
And other finance competitions are open
Several business and economics competitions remain available to students in China. An advisor can match one to what a student wanted from this.
For the record
What the challenge was.
Sometimes described as a CFA for secondary students, the Student Investor Challenge combined a regulated financial capability assessment with a simulated stock market, for students aged 11 to 18.
- Organiser
- The London Institute of Banking and Finance, founded 1879 by the British Bankers’ Association and holding a Royal Charter
- China-region status
- Discontinued from 2025
- Who could enter
- Students aged 11 to 18, in two divisions - junior for 11 to 15 and senior for 16 to 18
- Two parts
- A financial capability certification assessment, and a simulated stock-market investment round
- The regulator
- The certification was authorised by Ofqual, the English qualifications regulator
- Format
- The preliminary was individual; the final was a team competition
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- Two a year - summer and winter
- Preparation supplied
- 48 hours of online course material, so that students with no background could start
- The simulation
- USD 100,000 of simulated capital to trade, reacting to real financial news under genuine uncertainty
- What a strong result carried
- LIBF financial capability certification, and a place in the national final. The higher-level certification was worth up to 56 UCAS points
- Scale
- Around 2,500 schools. Cumulative participation is given as 400,000 in one place and over 700,000 in another
What made it unusual
Three features almost no other competition combines.
These are the things to look for when choosing a replacement, because they were the reasons to enter.
A regulated qualification, not a certificate
The assessment was authorised by Ofqual - the same regulator that oversees A Levels - so the result was a qualification rather than a competition award. Very few school competitions carry that.
UCAS points attached
The higher-level certification was worth up to 56 UCAS points, which is a measurable contribution to a British university application rather than a line on an activity list.
And a real trading simulation
A hundred thousand dollars of simulated capital, traded against live financial news. Students had to control risk and make decisions under uncertainty rather than answer questions about markets.
With a course for beginners
Forty-eight hours of online material meant a student with no finance background could start from zero. Most finance competitions assume the knowledge.
What to ask about a replacement
Four questions worth putting to any finance competition.
Drawn from what this one did. They are also a reasonable checklist for a business competition generally.
Is the outcome a qualification or an award?
A regulated qualification travels further than a certificate. Ask who accredits it, and whether any admissions system recognises it formally.
Does it teach, or only test?
A competition that supplies course material can be entered by a student with no background. One that does not is really only open to students who already have it.
Is there anything to do, or only to know?
Simulated trading, a business plan, a pitch. A competition that is entirely multiple choice tests a narrower thing than this one did.
And how far does it go?
This one ran two seasons a year, each with a preliminary and a team final. Ask whether a replacement ends at one paper.
Talk to an advisor
Hanlin does not coach LIBF Student Investor Challenge. Ask what it does coach.
The services below are real, but not for this competition. An advisor will say plainly whether there is a route here and what is worth entering instead.
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Briefly answered.
What families ask when they find this competition.
Is the Student Investor Challenge still running in China?
No. The China region was discontinued from 2025. Pages giving China-region dates describe the 2024 cycle or earlier.
What was it?
A global finance competition run by The London Institute of Banking and Finance, combining an Ofqual-authorised financial capability assessment with a simulated stock market, for students aged 11 to 18.
What was the simulation?
Students traded USD 100,000 of simulated capital, reacting to live financial news and managing risk - closer to the daily work of a fund manager than to an exam.
What did a good result carry?
LIBF financial capability certification and a place in the national final. The higher-level certification was worth up to 56 UCAS points toward a British university application.
Did it require a finance background?
No. Forty-eight hours of online course material were supplied so that students starting from nothing could take part.
Is the LIBF qualification still available another way?
The institute itself continues and its qualifications are unaffected by the competition ending in China. If the certification was the objective, it is worth asking LIBF directly what routes remain.
What should I enter instead?
That depends on whether the student wanted the qualification, the trading experience or the team competition. Tell us which and an advisor will suggest something open.
Related
Where to look instead.
Business and economics competitions that are running.
Finance competition enquiries
The qualification and the competition were two different things.
If a student wanted the Ofqual-regulated certification, that may still be reachable through the institute. If they wanted the trading simulation or the team final, other competitions offer those. Tell us which mattered and an advisor will map it.