Student FAQs about the FLC

Your competition day is approaching. Are you ready? Review the FAQs below for common questions we’re asked. If after reviewing these FAQs you're still unsure about something, speak to your teacher or email us at saf-flc@uwaterloo.ca.

Registration   |   Using Mobius   |   Preparing for the competition   |   Receiving your results

What information do I need to register?

You will need a unique class link to register for the competition. A teacher from your school must provide you with this link. When registering with this link you will also need to provide your name and email address. Your email address will become your login user ID so please take care to enter it correctly so that you can receive confirmation of your registration and any additional communications from SAF. The name you provide at registration will be used to create your Certificate of Achievement so please provide the name that you want to see on your certificate.

Can I register for the competition directly?

Students must compete under the supervision of a teacher. If your school does not currently participate in the FLC, talk with a teacher or guidance counsellor to see if they would be interested in registering a class so that you could participate. Chances are if you're interested in participating, others are too. Participation from your school can include a group of individuals, a class, or a club and there is no minimum number of participants needed to compete.

I've participated in the FLC before. Can I register again?

You can register and participate more than once but you are only eligible to receive awards and prizes (including a Certificate of Achievement) on your first attempt at each level. That is, you can compete once as a Junior student (Grade 9 and 10) and once as a Senior student (Grade 11 and 12). You will be required to indicate that you have previously competed when responding to the personal questions at the beginning of each competition. Failure to do so, could disqualify you from the competition.

How do I log in?

To access the competition on your competition day, you will need to login by entering the User ID (your email) and password created when you registered. You should test your login well in advance of your competition day to avoid stress on your competition day should it not work or you forget your password.

What do I do if I've forgotten my login credentials?

Use the "Forgot your password" link on the login page to reset it. Enter the email address you used to register your class and follow the reset instructions that will be sent to that email address. If that doesn't work, notify your teacher.

How do I find the competition?

Once logged in to Mobius, you should see the class that you are registered in. Enter the class and under Activities, locate the competition. Until your competition day and time, the competition will be visible but not accessible (noted by the "N/A"). Once your competition window begins, the competition will become accessible ("Start" will replace "N/A"). Two competitions should be visible: Junior and Senior. If you are in Grade 9 or 10, you will challenge the junior competition. If you are in Grade 11 or 12, you will challenge the senior competition.

How do I prepare for the competition?

We've curated and, in some cases, created resources to support you as you prepare for the competition. You can find a list of resources and activities here to help you explore the variety of financial topics included in the competition. We've also created a practice competition that you can use to practice questions in a "competition-like" format. The practice competition includes 15 questions on a variety of financial literacy topics and can be repeated multiple times as the questions will be randomized each time. Make sure you are logged out to access the practice questions.

What types of questions should I expect?

We've created some short quizzes on each of the competition topics to provide a sample of what types of questions you can expect. Our sample questions are a mix of easy (eg. definitions), medium (eg. simple application or more complex terminology), and hard (eg. calculations and more complex application). Most questions are multiple choice, but you may also see matching, fill in the blank, or calculation questions.

What topics should I focus on?

The competition covers the topics of accounting, investing, economics, banking, income management and budgeting, credit, fraud and financial safety, home ownership and post-secondary financing. It is very unlikely that you will be confident in all of these topics, and that's OK. We want the competition experience to be less about testing what you know and more about helping you become more familiar with financial literacy topics and sparking your curiosity to learn more.

When can I expect to receive my results?

Results will be shared with your teacher via email within 3-4 weeks of the competition. Your teacher will receive your name and level of achievement. Level of achievement is based on:

• Gold - 80% or above
• Silver - 70% - 79.9%
• Bronze - 60% - 69.9%
• Participant - below 60%

Individual scores are not provided. If you have won a prize, your ranking will also be provided. The top 10 students at each grade level are recognized with prizes and the top junior and senior students are considered our grand prize winners.

Why am I noted as "ineligible" in the results?

To be eligible for recognition (i.e. prizes and certificates of achievement), you must:

• Be competing at that level for the first time (i.e. first time as a junior or senior participant).
• Respond to all questions within the 65 minute time limit (there is no penalty for guessing). Junior students must respond to all 50 questions and Senior students must respond to all 60 questions.
• Agree to the integrity statements and provide the personal information requested.

The results shared with your teacher will indicate the reason for your ineligibility.

How are certificates distributed?

Certificates are issued electronically and are distributed by email directly to the email you used to register for the competition. Please spell your name correctly and provide a valid email address when registering to avoid issues with the preparation and delivery of their certificates. Certificates are typically distributed within 6-8 weeks of the competition dates.

If you receive a certificate with your name spelled incorrectly, please email saf-flc@uwaterloo.ca and we will correct it.

How are prizes distributed?

If you are a prize winner, you will be notified by email of your prize and will be asked to sign a release form. Instructions to receive your prize will be included in this email. If you are under the age of majority in your province, your parent or guardian is required to sign this release form. If have reached the age of majority in your province, you can sign the release form yourself. Please return the release form as quickly as possible to avoid delay in distribution of prizes. We do not distribute prizes until release forms have been received from ALL prize winners.

Signing the release form allows us to publish your name in our list of competition winners.