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Five go to finals of national business competition

Wednesday 27 June 2018

Five Year 12 students from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) have proved their business brains by reaching the national final of a major schools competition.

Just 48 teams from schools across the UK have won through to the national final of BASE, a competition which puts 16 to 17-year-old students into the shoes of finance professionals through a series of challenges. BASE is run by ICAEW, the professional membership organisation for chartered accountants.

The GSAL finalists are Ted Robinson, George Cooper, Will Marshall, Will Poskitt and Cameron Mairs, who are all studying economics at A-level. To reach the BASE national final they progressed through a series of tough rounds which started with an individual online aptitude test.

Successful students then progressed to a group round, also online, in which they had to analyse business proposals to see which were the most sustainable.

Round 3 was a video interview, after which the 500 teams were whittled down to the 48 finalists. They now progress to the final at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham on Thursday 28 June.

At the final the teams will be set a new and exciting challenge, in which they must analyse an organisation and advise on specific issues, with the guidance of a professional mentor. The teams must come up with innovative recommendations and present these to a panel of judges, in a bid to win prizes including employability sessions, laptops and iPads.

Will Marshall said: “We only get the briefing on the day and about 45 minutes to prepare our presentation for the judges. Although it’s a challenge the potential rewards are good, with the opportunity to do work experience in London and enhance our employability.”

Cameron added: “It sounds stressful but we enjoy it as we’re interested in the subject area. It’s a great networking opportunity and our chance to represent school and make the best impression.”

Photo: BASE 2018 finalists (L-R) George Cooper, Will Marshall, Will Poskitt, Cameron Mairs and Ted Robinson

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