University of Leicester hosts contest to find the world’s brightest young economists

Some of the brightest minds in the Midlands converged on the University of Leicester for a competition to find the best young economists in the world.

More than 100 A-level economics students representing nine colleges and schools came to campus on Wednesday 4 March to compete in the central regional round of the UK Economics Olympiad.

The contest forms part of the worldwide Economics Olympiad, which sees more than 120,000 students from 40 countries aim to progress from regional rounds to their national finals. The winners of those then go on to compete in the showpiece event – the International Economics Olympiad in Ancient Olympia, Greece, in August. The aim of the competition is to promote and develop economics education around the globe.

This is the first year the UK has entered the Olympiad, which is run by business and economics education organisation, Time2Resources Ltd, widely recognised for its excellence in Economics and Business education. 

The Leicester event was hosted by the University’s School of Business, whose economics academics were on hand to help with set challenges and take part in presentations and a panel discussion. Leicester economics students were also enlisted to mark the two formal assessments all competitors were required to complete to test their understanding of economic theory and real-world application. 

After an intense and closely fought contest, the top 14 performers were invited to progress to the national final in London, in June.

Regional winners represented Beauchamp City Sixth Form, Loughborough College, Uppingham College, Loughborough Grammar School, Melton Vale Sixth Form College and City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College.

The other schools and colleges which took part were Leicester Grammar School, Trent College and Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls.

The day include a welcome address from Head of Economics, Professor Matthias Dahm. His School of Business colleague and Lecturer in Economics, Dr Jingyi Mao, then gave students a university-level lecture about decision making, which was followed by a panel discussion.

Professor Dahm said: “I was incredibly impressed with both the ability and the enthusiasm of the competitors, who are some of the top economics students in the East Midlands.

“They engaged thoughtfully with the ideas we explored and performed exceptionally well in the competition. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring day.”

Helen Coupland-Smith, National Organiser of the UK Economics Olympiad, said: “We were delighted to hold this year’s central region round of the Economics Olympiad at the University of Leicester, who were brilliant hosts and provided a fantastic setting for the competition. 

“It was inspiring to see so many talented students come together and demonstrate their enthusiasm for economics. Congratulations to everyone who took part, and especially to our winners, who will now go on to represent the central region in the national final this summer.”