Students from The Tiffin Girls’ School have been named as the winners of the Royal Economic Society’s Young Economist of the Year 2024 competition, sponsored by KPMG UK.
Harriet Turnbull, Medha Kumar and Neha Sathishkanna were selected as winners by an esteemed panel of judges at an in-person final hosted by KPMG UK at their London offices on Thursday 10 October.
The Young Economist of the Year is an annual competition aimed at Year 10 to 13 students, encouraging them to produce their own ideas while applying economic concepts and understanding to analyse contemporary problems facing the UK and the world.
The competition finalists and judges
This year’s competition was sponsored by KPMG UK and attracted over 2,700 entries. Volunteers from across KPMG, academia, industry and the civil service were tasked with marking the entries, selecting the top submission for each of the questions to go through to present at the in-person final.
The winning students from The Tiffin Girls’ School focused their entry on the topic of ‘What is the economic impact of the growing gig economy?’. Their submission is now due to be featured in the Financial Times.
Commenting on their win, Harriet Turnbull, of The Tiffin Girls’ school, said: “Looking back on this extraordinary experience of Young Economist of the Year 2024, we simply cannot adequately put into words our appreciation. From visiting Downing Street, to meeting leading Economists at the final at KPMG, to being published in the Financial Times, Young Economist of the Year is a competition like no other. It has allowed us to see the positive change that Economics can drive within society, and we would like to express our sincerest thanks to everyone who has worked to create such an unforgettable and valuable opportunity for aspiring Economists.”
Heather Sharp, Partner leading KPMG UK’s Economics team, said: “Congratulations to Harriet, Medha and Neha on winning this year’s Young Economist of the Year competition. All the finalists’ presentations were thought-provoking and well-researched, making it a brilliant final.
“Through KPMG’s ongoing sponsorship of Discover Economics we are supporting their work to bring economics to even more students across the UK and to change the way young people perceive the subject. Economics helps us understand so many of today’s societal issues and is a very rewarding career path.”
Ahead of the final, the finalists were invited to visit Downing Street and HM Treasury in September. The students met Chief Economic Advisor and Head of the Government Economic Service, Sam Beckett, with whom they discussed their future plans, careers in economics and what it is like to work in the civil service.
Discover Economics is a campaign run by the Royal Economics Society and sponsored by KPMG. It aims to broaden the appeal of economics to potential students, change their perceptions of economics and economists, and attract more students from under-represented groups.
The campaign targets 15-17 year olds, who are making choices about what post qualifications to take and what subjects to study at university or through an apprenticeship. By transforming the perceptions of economics among students, particularly those attending schools which don't provide it as a subject, the campaign aims to raise the voices of a more diverse set of economists.
KPMG
KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Legal, Tax and Advisory services. It operates in 143 countries and territories with more than 273,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
KPMG has a leading economics consultancy practice, that is part of KPMG's global network of economists. The team provides expert analysis and advice to corporates, government bodies and regulatory authorities, using economic insights, modelling and research to help tackle a breadth of complex challenges and issues.
FT Schools
The Financial Times has created a hub for schools and colleges. Teachers in schools around the world with students aged 16-19 years old can get free access to the FT here and request individual FT accounts. Colleges in the UK can also sign up. You can check to see if your institution is already registered. Schools Digest, a weekly newsletter from global education editor Andrew Jack, features student competitio
ns, quizzes and the best of the Financial Times' expert analysis and coverage. All FT subscribers and those on the free schools programme can subscribe here to receive it every Monday at 7am. Click here for more information.
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