Plymouth College sixth formers Jessica Evans, Susannah Kellagher, Bobbie Moore and Tom Watkins have won the national final of Student Investor, held in London yesterday.
'Ladies Go Long' walked away with £2000 for the school, £200 each and an educational trip to New York. This is the second time Plymouth College has claimed the top spot in this prestigious competition and the third national business competition won by the school in the last 12 months.
Run by the ifs School of Finance, more than 40,000 students from 1,000 schools participated in this year's competition, which started with students investing a fantasy £100,000 in the stock market over a four month period. The teams with the greatest investment growth progressed to one of four regional finals to compete in a head-to-head quiz.
The top two teams from each region went forward to the national final, where the first challenge was to design a sustainable activity or event in a school - the Plymouth College team came up with the idea of holding a Ball where all the electricity for the event was powered by people on bikes. The final challenge of the competition was to give a presentation on 'How socially useful is banking?'. The students presented analysis and recommendations on the highly topical subject to a judging panel that included Lawrence Gold, from the BBC's the 'Bank of Mum and Dad', David Budworth, Deputy Personal Finance Editor at The Times and Revd Dr Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral.
Rod McKee, Director of Financial Capability at the ifs School of Finance said: "The issues facing economies and the financial industry today underline the importance of education in schools more than ever and we are delighted to run a competition that reflects this. The high number of entrants show students' enthusiasm for finance and the team from Plymouth College did incredibly well to beat of stiff competition this year".
"We are delighted that all our hard work has paid off", said 'Ladies Go Long' member, Tom Watkins. "The ifs Student Challenge has been a truly wonderful experience with every stage being trying and challenging, while at the same time developing skills such as teamwork, presentation skills and financial awareness."
Fellow team member, Susannah Kellagher, added: "The ifs Student Investor Challenge has given me a very practical insight into the world of finance and allowed me to explore the many issues and challenges it faces today. I have enjoyed every step of the programme, from learning how to research companies and markets to understanding the wider impact of financial decisions on the economy".
"To win this competition for a second time is an amazing achievement", said Economics and Business Studies teacher, Jonathan Shields. "Plymouth College has really made its mark on the national stage in the last 12 months with teams winning Young Enterprise and Make Your Mark, and finishing runners-up in the Apprentice Challenge. We also claimed the top four students in the country in the Edexcel Economics and Business Studies A Level and had four pupils in the top ten at GCSE.
"We are very passionate about ensuring financial capability among our students and the current economic climate demonstrates more than ever the need for financial literacy amongst young people. Participation in competitions such as Student Investor really helps them to put the theory into practice and equip them with invaluable skills for the future."
Photograph: L to R: Tom Watkins, Bobbie Moore, Susannah Kellagher, Jessica Evans
