Year 12 students from Wellington College in Crowthorne visited the ICMA Centre on Wednesday to take part in a stock market competition, in which pupils were pitted against each other in a simulation of a trading floor.

19 students engaged in a competitive and informative session, which gave them an insight into the financial markets industry.

17-year-old Claudia Rule made the highest return and was presented with a Trading Champion 2015 certificate by Dr Ioannis Oikonomou, Programme Area Director of Undergraduate Degrees in Finance.

“It is really important for young people to gain this kind of practical experience and to link what they learn in the classroom to the real world of finance,” Ioannis comments, “The students were very competitive and appeared to enjoy the experience very much.”

The high-octane sessions took part in the ICMA Centre’s world-renowned dealing room facilities, which are kitted out with the latest trading technology and supported by industry giants Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg.

During the day the students also learnt more about careers in financial markets, and were given advice on courses and education that can help them achieve their goals by the ICMA Centre’s in-house careers team.