SECONDARY school students have rolled the dice with the stock market and proven themselves to be in the running as the business men and women of tomorrow, and be in with the chance of going to New York.

Two teams of four students from Isambard Community School have outperformed the stock market and have now secured their place in the semi-finals of a national investment competition.

Competing against 10,000 other teams from across the UK, the ‘No Money Men’ and ‘Burtons Brothers’ teams secured their places in the ifs Student Investor Challenge, having made a virtual £11,000 and £9,000 respectively in a three month period of online trading.

The teams will now go on to represent their school in the next phase of the challenge, where they will be awarded points for accurately predicting the closing price of certain assets on a weekly basis, testing a whole new skillset.

If successful at the semi-final stage, they will have the chance of making it through to the national final in April where an all-expenses paid educational trip to New York and £2,000 awaits the eventual winners.

The ifs Student Investor Challenge, run by financial education charity ifs University College, is the UK’s largest investment competition for schools in the UK. Free to enter, the competition provides teams with two virtual investment portfolios of £100,000 where they are challenged to make both short-term and strategic trades.

Kathy Balebela from Isambard Community School said: “This is our first year taking part in the challenge and it is great to see students demonstrating what they are capable of when competing with other UK schools. This is a great example for all our students working hard at Isambard.”

Alison Pask, Vice Principal at ifs University College, said: “After only three short months of trading, the teams from Isambard Community School have already demonstrated their abilities to understand and navigate the complex world of stock market investing.

“Now at the semi-final stage, the competition will only become fiercer as a place in the national final beckons for those teams prepared to go the extra mile and hone their research, team working and communication skills even further.

“We wish the teams from Isambard Community School – and indeed all the teams competing – every success at the semi- final stage.”

For more information about the ifs Student Investor Challenge visit: www.studentinvestor.org.