School students take on the stock market in local Business School competition
On Tuesday 5 July, the ICMA Centre at Henley Business School hosted its annual Stock Market Competition for year 12 school students interested in a career in business and finance. The competition took place in the ICMA Centre’s world-class dealing rooms and simulated a stock market trading room. Following an exciting day, Chris Briant and Yucel Hulusi from Wilmington Grammar School For Boys were crowned competition winners and awarded iPads and a trophy.
Now in its fifth year, the competition continues to be popular and around 100 students from ten schools and colleges competed against each other for the chance to become top traders. Based on industry-standard software, the trading rooms allow students to experience a lifelike scenario of the fast-paced world of international trading in a safe space and apply their current knowledge of subjects such as maths, business and economics.
Post-economic recession and in this current climate of uncertainty following the EU Referendum, students are encouraged to consider the importance of business ethics and responsible business practice that is core to the teaching philosophy at Henley Business School. To avoid the temptation of taking excessive gambles, strict dealing limits were imposed and penalties were in place for reckless trading.
Closely behind the Wilmington Grammar School winning team, second place was taken by Ben Cole and Zac Powell from Reading Blue Coat School, and in third place were Tayyab Sajjad and Mustafa Javed from Woking College.
Commenting on the announcement of their win, Yucel Hulusi and Chris Briant said: "[We’ve] never won something like this before. It was fun, it was intense, it was fast paced. People say the stock market job is stressful, but… it’s the most fun [we’ve] had in a long time!"
Deborah Wood, a teacher from Bexley Grammar School, one of the participating schools, added: "The students really enjoyed the experience and pressure of a real trading environment. They say they have learnt more from the day than they ever could from reading about trading in text books or hearing about it from experienced traders."
The day proved to be a great success, and the ICMA Centre is already looking forward to inviting students to take part in next summer’s Stock Market Competition.