Spread Bet UK: Independent UK Spread Betting Site

Spread Bet UK is an independent UK site, founded 2024, about financial spread betting, a leveraged bet on a financial market's price staked in pounds per point. In our August 2026 timed-order test we placed 210 live orders at 14 FCA-regulated providers between 18 and 27 August 2026. Price a spread bet in the calculator below, with no sign-up. Co-founders Justin Grossbard and Noam Korbl run the site, and David Levy, Head of Content, fact-checks every page before publication. We read each provider's published spreads from its UK site monthly, latest 18 September 2026, and captured every FCA register entry on 3 September 2026.

What changed

Updated on 24 Sep 2026: our sentence on how we score brokers now says the overall score out of 100 is the sum of the six marks from our scoring sheet of 26 Aug 2026, divided by 60 and multiplied by 100, the rule every score on the site has used since 24 Sep 2026. The opening paragraph’s sentence on the timed orders, and the label beside the 210 figure under the calculator, now say "FCA-regulated spread betting brokers" instead of "providers". No figure changed. The opening sentence about our timed orders, and the label beside the 210 figure under the calculator, now describe it as our August 2026 timed-order test at 14 FCA-regulated providers. The label links our slippage page, which publishes the test. The FAQ question that asked what spread betting is now asks what the site covers, and its answer links our guide. The guides section gained a card for our guide.

Price a spread bet

Spread betting calculator

Cost, profit or loss, and margin on one bet

Market

Stake per point

Direction

Broker

Spread

Opening level

Closing level

Or points moved

On GBP/USD one point is a 0.0001 move, so £5 per point is £5 per pip. 1.3393 is 13,393 points.

is quoted in index points: one point is a 1.0 move of the level, and the bet is priced per index point.

Opening level from the Mon 21 Sep 2026 5pm New York close Opening level: your own figure, from your platform's deal ticket Spread: Pepperstone published, 18 Sep 2026 Spread: your own figure

A buy at £5 per point that closes 80 points higher makes £400.00 before the spread. Pepperstone's published 0.9-point spread costs £4.50 on this bet, leaving £395.50. The margin held to open it is £2,232.17.

Enter the level from your platform's deal ticket and your provider's spread in points; the ledger then prices the bet.

Profit or loss on the move80 points × £5.00 per point£400.00

Cost of the spread0.9 point × £5.00 per point, paid on entry− £4.50

Net result£395.50

Margin to open13,393 points × £5.00 = £66,965 notional, at the FCA 30:1 major-pair cap£2,232.17

HMRC's Capital Gains Manual (CG56105) states that no chargeable gains or allowable losses arise from spread betting. For most UK retail traders, profits are therefore free of Capital Gains Tax. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change. See how spread betting profits are taxed. Overnight funding is not included; use the overnight funding calculator. Spreads are the brokers' own published figures, read on 18 Sep 2026, or your own figure where you type one; neither is a quote at the moment you deal. Margin uses the FCA COBS 22.5 retail leverage cap for the market class.

Capital at risk when spread betting.

210live orders in our August 2026 timed-order test at 14 FCA-regulated providers
18 Sep 2026latest monthly read of each provider’s published spreads
3 Sep 2026FCA register entries captured for all 14 providers
61% to 76.6%published share of retail accounts losing money

Where The Full Provider Ranking Lives

A separate page on this site ranks all 14 FCA-regulated providers by an overall score out of 100. It also marks each provider out of 10 across six criteria, alongside the 210 orders we timed, the monthly spread read, and each provider’s FCA register entry and published loss percentage. Every figure behind each position appears on our best spread betting platforms in the UK page.

Between 61% and 76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money across the 14 brokers we compare.

Capital at risk when spread betting.

Guides And Tools Around The Site

What Is Spread Betting? How It Works in the UK (2026)
Our guide defines financial spread betting, shows how profit and loss are worked out from the stake per point and the points moved, with worked examples, and covers margin, leverage, daily funded bets and the risks.
Spread Betting Calculator: Profit, Loss, Margin and Stake
The calculator returns profit or loss, the spread cost at each provider publishing a spread for the market, the retail margin and the 50% close-out level.
Is Spread Betting Tax Free In The UK?
HMRC's treatment of spread betting profits for the 2026/27 tax year appears here, covering when profits can be taxed and why losses cannot offset Capital Gains Tax.
UK Spread Betting Statistics
Monthly read figures for the spreads 14 providers publish on nine currency pairs sit here, recording each figure's kind and averaging only comparable ones.
The Difference Between Spread Betting and CFD Trading
Spread betting sizes positions in pounds per point rather than contracts as a CFD does, and it treats the tax on profits and losses differently.
Spread Betting vs Forex Trading: UK Differences
A forex spread bet works on currency pairs in pounds per point, while a forex CFD trades in lots, and the tax treatment of profits and losses also differs between them.

The 14 Providers In Alphabetical Order

The 14 FCA-regulated providers that still offer UK spread betting are listed alphabetically, each name opening its full review, and the order says nothing about merit. The UK Spread Betting Broker Reviews directory also covers six brands that do not offer UK spread betting.

As seen on

In April 2026, Babypips quoted our co-founder Justin Grossbard on the tax treatment of spread betting and CFDs. Attitude and TheStreet quoted him on forex spread betting and risk management respectively in August 2025, while SavingTool cited our tax guide in June 2025 and London Post linked to us in August 2021.

What Rules Apply To UK Spread Betting?

The rules below apply only to FCA-authorised brokers and only to UK spread betting accounts.

FCA authorisation
Only FCA-authorised brokers can offer UK spread betting. They must hold segregated client funds and offer negative balance protection.
Leverage capped by the FCA
The FCA caps retail leverage at 30:1 on major currency pairs and 20:1 on non-major pairs and major indices. The margin held is 3.33% of the position on major pairs and 5% on the others.
Tax position
Spread betting profits are free of Capital Gains Tax for most UK retail traders. No Stamp Duty applies. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and can change.

A desk in a London office with a laptop showing a price chart, a stamped statement, a calculator and a small stack of pound coins, no people

Who we are

Why Trust Spread Bet UK

Justin Grossbard and Noam Korbl founded Spread Bet UK in 2024.

Founded: 2024
Brands reviewed: 20
Open FCA-authorised accounts: 14
Spread data re-read: Every month
Current spread data: 18 Sep 2026
Ranking scale: Score out of 100

We apply the same criteria to every broker and score each out of 100.

Method

How we score brokers

We opened live funded accounts with all 14 providers between 10 and 14 August 2026, recording the hours from application to approval; spreads are each provider's published figures.

Every provider is marked out of 10 on six criteria: trading cost, trading experience, trading platform, trust, range of markets and customer service. Their overall score out of 100 is the sum of those six marks from our scoring sheet of 26 Aug 2026, divided by 60 and multiplied by 100. The full criteria are in our methodology.

Diagram of the Spread-Bet.co.uk scoring pipeline

Questions

FAQs

What does this site cover, and is it financial or sports?

Spread Bet UK covers financial spread betting only, a leveraged bet on a financial market’s price staked in pounds per point, for UK retail clients. We do not cover sports spread betting, and our guide explains how financial spread betting works with a worked example.

Are spread betting profits taxable?

Spread betting profits are not taxable for most UK individuals. HMRC treats spread betting as gambling, so no Capital Gains Tax and no Stamp Duty apply.

Earning a living from spread betting does not on its own make the profits taxable, and HMRC can tax them where the bets arise from carrying on a trade. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and can change, so seek professional tax advice if you are unsure.

Is spread betting FCA regulated?

Spread betting is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Only brokers licensed and authorised by the FCA can provide spread betting markets.

Understand the risk

Spread bets are leveraged, and a leveraged position moves faster than the stake suggests. Across the 14 brokers we compare, the published share of retail investor accounts losing money runs from 61% to 76.6%.

Disclaimer: leveraged instruments are risky. Conduct your own research before trading on margin or with leverage. This page is not financial or tax advice. We are paid when you visit a partner site, and the ranking is not for sale.

Change history: 3 earlier dated notes

Updated on 23 Sep 2026: The tax wording was corrected: the page no longer mentions stamp duty, now explains that earning a living from spread betting does not on its own make profits taxable, and points to HMRC’s Capital Gains Manual. The scoring description now says every provider is marked out of 10 on six criteria. Several passages were removed, including published loss percentages, office address and detailed scoring commentary, and the founders’ bios were shortened.
Updated on 22 Sep 2026: The calculator’s worked example now uses the exchange-rate snapshot of the 21 Sep 2026 New York close, so its GBP/USD level, exposure and margin figures moved. The tax note now rests on HMRC’s Capital Gains Manual (CG56105) and no longer mentions stamp duty.
Updated on 22 Sep 2026: the sentence about the 210 timed orders now describes the 14 providers as FCA-regulated, the wording used across the site. On 21 Sep 2026 the opening sentence was rewritten to say the site is about financial spread betting, a leveraged bet on a financial market's price staked in pounds per point. No figure changed.