Learn to trade
Education
Plain-English lessons in three levels, from your first chart to trading live. New to trading? Start with Beginner, or jump to the level that fits you.
The lessons
Three levels, each a few short lessons. Every lesson ends with a quick check and links to the BTM tool that helps you practise it.
New to trading? Start here. What trading is, how to read a chart and draw levels, what a move is worth, what it costs, how to protect your money and how to stay safe.
Start here: what trading is
What you are actually doing when you trade, the markets on BTM and what makes prices move.
Read lesson → 6 min2When markets move: sessions and news
The Asia, London and New York sessions, why the time of day matters, and how to handle big news.
Read lesson → 8 min3Reading a chart
Candles, timeframes, trends, and support and resistance: the four things every chart shows you.
Read lesson → 7 min4Support and resistance
How to draw levels as zones, what makes a level strong, and why old resistance often becomes new support.
Read lesson → 8 min5Pips, points and lot sizes
What a move is worth in pounds on forex, gold and indices, and how to work out your size from your risk.
Read lesson → 8 min6Orders and what a trade really costs
Market and pending orders, stop loss and take profit, and the spread, commission and swap you pay on every trade.
Read lesson → 9 min7Risk management
The 1% rule, stop losses, position size and risk:reward: the lesson that keeps you in the game.
Read lesson → 7 min8Leverage and margin
How a small deposit controls a big trade, the UK leverage limits, margin calls, and why leverage is a ceiling, not a target.
Read lesson → 5 min9Practise before you risk money
Use Replay, paper trading and your journal to build skill and confidence before you trade real money.
Read lesson → 7 min10Choosing a broker safely
The FCA Register, clone firms, the protections you get, real costs, and testing a withdrawal before you deposit more.
Read lesson → 7 min11Spotting scams and red flags
Guaranteed returns, “account managers” and recovery scams: the warning signs, and what to do if it happens.
Read lesson →Read the market better: trends, structure, timeframes, indicators, patterns, smart money ideas, stops and targets, sessions, and BTM’s AI scanners and alerts.
Trending or sideways?
Most tools only work in one kind of market. Learn to tell a trend from a range, and pick the right tool.
Read lesson → 7 min2Market structure
Higher highs and lows, breaks of structure and changes of character: seeing a trend turn before most indicators do.
Read lesson → 6 min3Using more than one timeframe
Use the bigger chart for direction and the smaller one for timing, with a simple three-chart setup.
Read lesson → 6 min4How indicators work
Lagging and leading, the four indicator families, and why adding more indicators rarely helps.
Read lesson → 7 min5Chart patterns
Flags, triangles, wedges, double tops and candle patterns: what they suggest, when they are confirmed and why some fail.
Read lesson → 8 min6Smart money concepts
Liquidity, sweeps, order blocks and fair value gaps in plain English, and how far to trust them.
Read lesson → 8 min7Stops and targets
Where to put your stop, how to set targets, taking part profit, and trailing stops that lock in gains.
Read lesson → 7 min8What moves each market
Interest rates, news and mood: what really drives forex, gold, indices and crypto, and when each market is busiest.
Read lesson → 7 min9Session strategies
The Asia range, the London open and the US open: three popular day-trading plans and when they work.
Read lesson → 7 min10Using the AI scanners
Grades, the AI Optimiser and the table’s bottom line: how to read a signal, and why you test a scanner on paper first.
Read lesson → 6 min11Alerts and a daily routine
A 15-minute routine, line and tool alerts, Telegram on your phone and daily limits, so the market comes to you.
Read lesson →Become consistent: a written plan, the right mindset, building and testing your own strategy, a journal, your numbers, losing streaks, tax and moving to live trading.
Your trading plan
Write down exactly what you trade, when, and how you get in and out, before you place a single trade.
Read lesson → 6 min2Trading psychology
Fear, greed, revenge trading and overtrading: why your mindset matters as much as your strategy.
Read lesson → 7 min3Building your own strategy
Turn an idea into clear yes-or-no rules, test it fairly in Replay and avoid over-fitting.
Read lesson → 7 min4Backtesting and Replay
Test your rules on past prices with Replay, how many trades you need, and why real results are worse.
Read lesson → 6 min5Keeping a trading journal
What to record, how R works, and a simple weekly review to find and fix your habits.
Read lesson → 7 min6Your numbers
Win rate, average R, expectancy, profit factor and drawdown: how to tell whether you really have an edge.
Read lesson → 6 min7Losing streaks and drawdowns
Why good strategies lose 6 to 8 in a row, how risk per trade decides whether you survive, and what to do in a bad run.
Read lesson → 7 min8Spread betting, CFDs and tax
How spread bets and CFDs differ, and how each is taxed in the UK, with a worked example.
Read lesson → 6 min9From demo to live
When you are ready for real money, how to start small, grow your size slowly and step back after a drawdown.
Read lesson →Reference
Look up any trading word while you learn.
Practise what you learn
Put each lesson to work with the tools on BTM.
For education only, not financial advice. Trading carries a high risk of losing money, especially with leverage. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.
Questions people ask
How do I start learning to trade?
Start with the Beginner lessons: Start here, How to read a chart, When markets move, Risk management and Writing a trading plan. Then practise on a demo account or with Replay on past prices before you use real money.
Are these trading lessons free?
Yes. All 31 lessons are free to read, with no sign-up needed. Each one takes a few minutes and ends with a short quiz.
What is the 1% rule in trading?
It means risking no more than 1% of your account on any one trade, so a run of losses cannot wipe you out. The Risk management lesson shows how to work it out.
What is a pip?
A pip is the usual smallest price step in forex: 0.0001 for most pairs and 0.01 for pairs with the Japanese yen. The Pips, points and lot sizes lesson shows what a pip is worth in pounds.
What is the best time to trade forex in the UK?
The busiest hours are usually the London session, from about 8am UK time, and the overlap with New York in the early afternoon. The When markets move lesson has the full session times.
How long does it take to learn to trade?
Most people need months of practice, not days. Learn the basics, practise on a demo account or with Replay, keep a journal and only move to small real trades once your results are steady.
For educational purposes only. Nothing here is financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and trading carries a high risk of losing money, so only trade with money you can afford to lose. Read the risk warning.