A FOUR strong team of sixth-form students outperformed the market when they made almost £22,000 trading a “virtual” £100,000 on the stock market.

The team from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington finished in the top 50 schools and sixth forms out of 40,000 UK students taking part in the competition run by ifs School of Finance.

The team of Hannah Dennis, Lizzie Oliver, Maddy Wood and Sarah Ingham, made nearly £21,851 profit trading in virtual shares in just three months, outperforming the FTSE 100 share index in the process.

The ifs Student Investor Challenge competition, run and supported by Bloomberg, provides teams with £100,000 of virtual money to buy and sell shares in FTSE 100 companies.

The competition gives 14-19 year olds the opportunity to experience the world of share dealing and investing in the stock market.

Now in its 20th year, the competition is the largest of its kind in the UK and is also open to international students.

Rod McKee, vice-principal of the ifs, said: “This competition gives students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of making investment decisions, which will benefit them throughout their lives when making financial choices.

“It also introduces them to core concepts such as risk, reward and diversification.

“This is a real achievement and many congratulations go to the team from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College.”

The team were coached by teacher Kevin Fields and chose the team name Kev’s Barmy Army’ for the competition.

The ifs School of Finance is a registered educational charity incorporated by Royal Charter.

It has a remit to provide the financial services industry with a skilled, effective and competent workforce whilst also promoting a better understanding of finance amongst consumers.

This mirrors the aims of the Foundation for Jobs the private and public sector campaign to tackle youth unemployment, led by The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership.

Foundation for Jobs uses practical activities to give students from primary through to degree level a better understanding of the world of work and help equip them with the skills to succeed in industry.

For further details on Foundation for Jobs visit thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/campaigns/foundationforjobs