A team of 16- and 17-year olds from Castle Rushen High School have proved themselves to be budding capitalists.

They have won this year’s national Shares4Schools competition, making a 21 per cent profit on their £1,500 investment since October.

Shares4Schools is a UK national investment competition organised by The Share Centre, a leading retail stockbroker.

It challenges students to compete against other schools - and sometimes against other teams within their own school - by trading £1,500 of real money in stocks and shares.

The Castletown school entered a number of teams into this year’s competition, not only claiming the winner’s spot but also the second and fifth places.

The school also won the the national competition in 2014 and has often topped its national league.

As this year’s national winners, the students will sound the opening bell at London Stock Exchange at the Shares4Schools winners day event on Thursday, June 22.

Jason Moorhouse, an economics teacher at Castle Rushen High School and MHK, said: ’Having been one of the initial 20 teams to enter into Shares4schools when it started in 2003, we have now quite a history.

’In the last four years Castle Rushen has won the national competition twice and been regional winners three times. Our initial investment pot of £1,500 has risen to over £7,000.

’Each year there have been two key priorities when delivering this extracurricular activity. The first is to show how accessible the stock market is. The second is to show students how the companies which the experts now overlook are the ones where serious gains can be achieved.

’The name, market share and market capital, price-to-earnings ratio, yield and debt are essentials. Once the shares are found, charts are used to pinpoint the best time to buy.

’We never buy a share close to its share price peak - as the saying goes, "catch a falling star and put it in your pocket". Also, only deal if you really have to or when the opportunity would be too big to miss... and remember there is so much good stuff in the bargain bin. The sad thing is that most people never bother looking there!’

Castle Rushen’s winning team had bought shares in well-known names such as Tesco, GoCompare, JD Sports and Laura Ashley, plus the oil-rig maker Lamprell, which has a base on the Isle of Man, and the investment broker Panmure Gordon.

Student Alfie Richard said: ’We really only focused on three areas: companies with strong brand names like JD and Go Compare, companies which our school always buy like Panmure Gordon, and those with a local link like Lamprell.’

Classmate Callum Wadsworth added: ’Many of the companies we bought shares in provide goods and services that I have purchased. This win confirms our belief that if the customer gets a good service they will return and this is the best way to boost a share price.’

However, fellow student Nathan Hill said that the team were also cautious when it came to buying decisions.

’If you have heard about how good something is then you are probably not alone,’ he said. ’So wait before you buy!’

Established in 2003, the Shares4Schools competition was the brainchild of The Share Centre’s founder Gavin Oldham.

He set up the competition with the aim of bringing the stock market to life for young people.

Mr Oldham said: ’Castle Rushen’s winning team did a fantastic job to beat the FTSE All Share by 14 per cent in what has been an interesting time for the markets.

’It’s been a nailbiting competition this year and global events over the last eight months will have added a layer of complexity for all the schools involved.

’The real money competition is as compelling as ever and provides valuable experience for these Year 12 students, helping them to understand that share prices can indeed fall as well as rise. I congratulate all this year’s students and am confident that the experience gained by taking part in Shares4schools will help them in whatever career they choose.’

Student Sean Kelly said that the competition had inspired him to invest in the stock market when he is older.

’One day I will buy shares for myself. This competition removes all the mystery and shows that dull can become spectacular!’