From a field of 284 teams, the 43 winning teams from the regional heats of the Interest Rate Challenge, held in November and early December, are now undertaking their next test, the area finals, which are taking place on 23, 27, 28 and 29 February, in six locations around the UK.
As in the heats, the area finals have the teams of four students taking on the role of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee and making a presentation to a panel of Bank of England judges. Each team must assess economic conditions and the outlook for inflation and then decide what level of interest rate, or other monetary policy measure, is necessary in order to meet the Government’s inflation target of 2.0%.
The team from St Paul’s School, Barnes won the London area final held today at Stonemartin Corporate Centres Ltd (IoD Hub), London. They recommended an interest rate of 0.5% compared with the Bank of England’s official rate of 0.5% set by the Monetary Policy Committee on 9 February 2012. They also recommended a total of £325bn of asset purchases under the Asset Purchase Facility, compared with the £325bn agreed by the MPC on 9 February 2012.
The team from City of London School for Girls, Barbican were runners up and in third place was Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet. The other teams in this area final were Fortismere School, Muswell Hill, Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood, Wimbledon College, St Olave’s Grammar School, Orpington and North London Collegiate School, Edgware.
The chair of the judging panel, Chris Piper, said “The judges were extremely impressed again by the high standard of the presentations. The schools today drew on a wide range of information and data, including their own surveys which were of significant interest to the judges”.
The winning team at each area final receives a trophy, the runner-up team wins £650 for their school or college and the third-placed team £350. The winners then go forward to compete for the Challenge Trophy and the £10,000 prize at the national final to be held at the Bank of England on 15 March.
Note for Editors
If you would like to take a photograph of the team(s) from your area or would like to interview team members, please call the Bank of England Press Office on 020 7601 4411 for contact details.