Melanie Mackie Reports on a Financially Challenging Competition

January 9th, 2006

Target 2,0 is a national competition run by The Times and the Bank of England.

In December 2005, 280 schools and colleges took part, including a Tollbar A Level Economics team made up of Lee Hammond, Edward Studd, Phillip Davis and me.

The competition involved preparing a presentation where we had to suggest changes to the interest rate to try to control inflation. The presentation was split into five parts - demand and output, exchange rates, costs and prices, the labour market and money and financial markets.

The first part of the competition is the regional heats with six teams in each one. Our heat was held at Weetwood Hall Hotel in Leeds.

We heard four other teams’ presentations before it was our turn so we had an idea of what to expect. After we had delivered our presentation, the three judges – all members of the Bank of England - asked us questions about the suggestions we had put forward. It wasn’t as scary as it sounds as we could confer when the judges asked us questions so no-one was put on the spot.

Although we didn’t win, I’m so glad I took part as it was a great experience and it is unlikely that I will ever get the opportunity to do something like this again. Plus, the preparation for the competition is all work that is on the syllabus for the A2 exams so it helped us become familiar with the course content.

If you are planning to go to university, it is crucial that you are able to prepare presentations and are confident when standing up and talking in front of an audience and this was very good practice. It also looks good on your application form when you are applying for a university course as it is a recognised competition.

My advice to anyone considering taking part in Target 2.0 is to put something different and original into your presentation to make it stand out to the judges and then present it with confidence.

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