Girls Win Regional Bank of England Challenge

Tuesday, 06 December 2011

A team of Bolton School Sixth Form Girls has won the regional heat of the twelfth annual Target Two Point Zero - The Bank of England and The Times Interest Rate Challenge.

Jenny Dalley, Alice Williamson, Hannah Grace and Hannah McCarthy took part in Target Two Point Zero, which gives teams of students aged 16-18 the chance to take on the role of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Teams of four students from each competing school or college had to analyse UK and global economic conditions and decide what level of interest rate they would set to achieve the Government's current inflation target of 2.0 - just as the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee does each month. The Bolton School team recommended an interest rate of 0.5% in line with the Bank of England's official rate of 0.5%. Once they had made their decision the girls had to prepare and give a short presentation, arguing a convincing case for their conclusion, to a panel of Bank of England judges. Following the presentation, the judges asked the team a series of questions to test their understanding and knowledge, and to see how they justify their policy decision, and how they think on their feet.

Some 300 teams across the United Kingdom are competing for the Challenge Trophy and £10,000 for their school or college. The girls beat a number of strong teams including Withington Girls' School in their regional heat held in Manchester. They will now go on to the area final to be held in February, with the national final to be held on 16 March at the Bank of England in London.