A team of St Albans pupils were runners up in a national economics competition.

Four Year 13 students from Sandringham School in The Ridgeway came second in the Bank of England’s economics competition.

Declan Twigg, Daniel Goldingray, Harry Newman-Booth and Max Sweeney made an 18-minute presentation to a panel of judges at the Bank of England on Wednesday, March 1, which was followed by 15 minutes of questioning.

The panel included Dr Gertjan Vlieghe, member of the monetary policy committee, and Rain Newton-Smith, the chief economist of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), who commended the pupils on their independent research and team work.

They beat other schools in the county including Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree and Dame Alice Owen’s School in Potters Bar, and won £750 for the school and a £25 Amazon voucher each.

Caroline Creaby, economics teacher and assistant headteacher at Sandringham, said: “The team has been preparing since September which has involved mastering graduate and post-graduate economics in their own time.

“This is the furthest any team from Sandringham School has ever progressed in the competition which is a fantastic achievement.”