School Economists Flying High

Four students from Tadcaster Grammar School have directly beaten over 8300 other school teams, an estimated 35,000 students, to be crowned 2018 Student Investor Champions.
‘Benoit’s Barmy Army,’ consisting of Tadcaster sixth formers, James Tucker, Harry Bean, Alex Robinson and James Bradshaw triumphed in a demanding final against six other teams, where they outperformed the market in several live trading simulations, before delivering a professional presentation giving financial advice on both the risk and return on a range of financial assets and commodities from crypto currencies to investing in gold.
The team have won an all-expense paid trip to New York where they will visit the New York Stock exchange, Wall Street and other world renowned sites. In a tense and highly competitive final Tadcaster Grammar School beat Menorah Grammar School who came a close second and Steyning Grammar School who came third.
To reach the final, “Benoit’s Barmy Army” team initially had to invest £100,000 over an eight week period, returning an incredible £118,000 over the period. In the semi-final they had to successfully predict the rise and fall in the value of certain asset classes.
Mr Mike Elsworth who runs the competition at Tadcaster Grammar School and accompanied the students to London for their final on Friday 27 April said “The presentation showed a very detailed understanding of the complexities of trading in the City and the way each individual member of the group specialised in a certain asset sector showed excellent teamwork.”
Mr Craig Benoit, Head of Economics and Commercial Subjects at Tadcaster Grammar School, said: “I have been immensely impressed by the team’s work ethic whilst faced with the very real examination pressures of an upper sixth student. The team’s very real interest in economics beyond what is taught in the classroom certainly shone through in both the heats and the final. They managed to decipher complex information and present it in an informative way. The level of research and analysis they demonstrated was really superb.”