Young Financial Journalist | Competition Now Open

About the competition

The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF), the Financial Times (FT) and their Financial Literary and Inclusion Campaign (FLIC) were seeking well-argued articles from students aged 14-19 for this joint competition which ran from 5 December 2022 - 14 April 2023.

Entries are now being judged by a panel of judges, including the FT's money and wealth editor, Stefan Wagstyl, and mathematician, writer and teacher Bobby Seagull. The winners will be announced in June 2023.

Winning entries will be published on the LIBF’s website: www.libf.ac.uk and may also be published on FT.com and/or in an edition of FT Money. The winner of each age group will also receive a £150 cash prize.

Schools teaching 16-19 year olds can get free access to FT.com. Get your free subscription to the Financial Times

Find out more about our Financial Education courses

About our judges

Bobby Seagull is a maths teacher, author and broadcaster. He co-hosts the BBC Monkman & Seagull Genius Guide series and is a resident expert on Channel 4's quiz The Answer Trap. He has published The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers and co-hosts the Maths Appeal podcast. He previously worked in investment banking as a trader (Lehman Brothers & Nomura) and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (PwC). He is now a regular commentator on financial education and money matters.

Stefan Wagstyl is Money and Wealth Editor at the FT. He edits Wealth magazine and manages global wealth management stories. Previously he’s been the FT’s Comment Editor for the Nikkei Asian Review, Chief Germany Correspondent, and the FT’s Editor for beyondbrics, Emerging Markets, Central and East Europe, New Delhi Bureau Chief and Tokyo Bureau Chief.

Catherine Winter is Managing Director, Financial Education and Community Outreach at The London Institute of Banking & Finance. Following a career in communications, she was a teacher of economics for six years and is now responsible for our work with schools who are delivering our financial capability qualifications at GCSE and A Level.

Competition questions by age group

14 -15

What key money skills should young people have by the time they leave sixth form, and what do they need to consider?

Cash – can it stand up and be counted or is the end of physical money in sight?

16 - 17

What financial tactics can young people use to cope with increases in the cost of living and to manage their finances more effectively?

What can young people do to avoid falling victim to financial scammers and criminals?

18 - 19

How can we encourage more consumers to invest in the stock market? What role could technology play?

How can financial institutions help us tackle climate change?

How to enter

Entrants were asked to write an article based on ONE of the questions in their age group. Entries had to be submitted using the form provided on our website, by the closing date (14 April 2023).

Answer one of the questions in your age group and upload your entry using the form provided.
Make sure you have written a minimum of 700 words, but no more than 800 words (not including headings, references and any entrant information). Do not put your name or any identifying information on the document you submit, as entries are judged anonymously. The submission form will capture your details.
Please make sure you fill out all the boxes on the form, including your name, age, gender, school, UK region and contact details.

Top tips

The judges are looking for:

Submissions with a clear narrative, which answer the question being tackled.
An engaging and ‘journalistic’ style – short sentences which make clear points.
A minimum of 700 words but not exceeding 800 words, excluding headings, references and entrant details.
Original ideas, but with evidence of research /further reading. (Sources of information must be referenced).
Good spelling and grammar.

Competition Rules

Detail:

The competition is open to young people aged between 14-19, attending school in the UK.
Entries must be a minimum of 700 words and no more than 800 words, excluding headings and entrant information. You must answer one of the questions in your age group.
Entries must be made via our website www.libf.ac.uk by close of business (17:00) on Friday 14 April 2023, using the entry form provided.
Using the form provided, please make sure you include your name, age, gender, school, UK region and name of teacher.
Entries should be typewritten and submitted in a word document format (MSWord or similar word processing package). Because the entries are judged anonymously, please don’t include your name or any identifying information on the document you submit. Your entry details will be captured by the submission form.
Entries will be disqualified if they:

Don’t comply with the entry requirements, including minimum or maximum word count.
Contain excessive spelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes, judged at our discretion.
Save their entry in a format that can’t be opened with standard packages such as MS Word.