Great British Economics Olympiad
The Great British Economics Olympiad at RIC
The Great British Economics Olympiad is a national competition for secondary school students run by Rochester Independent College on behalf of the International Economics Olympiad (IEO) Committee.
The competition is designed to promote interest in economics and to identify talented students who may become future leaders in the field. The top performing students will be given the opportunity to represent the UK at the International Economics Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan in July 2025. It is a great opportunity for high school students who are interested in economics to showcase their knowledge and skills, meet other students from around the world who share their interests, and gain valuable experience and recognition. Budding economists will develop critical problem-solving skills, learn to think more creatively and get a chance to test their knowledge in new, real-world situations.
GBEO@Rochester
One of our star sixth form students, Angelina from Moscow, was frustrated there wasn’t an Olympiad style competition for her to compete in like her classmates in Maths and the sciences- there was no accredited host UK centre. Undeterred, she contacted the International Economics Olympiad Committee and worked to help accredit RIC. The Great British Economics Olympiad now serves as the national qualifier for the UK team.
The Great British Economics Olympiad brings together talented Economics students from across the globe. It aims to promote interest in Economics and identify future leaders in the field. It’s an opportunity for students to showcase their knowledge and skills. Budding Economists develop critical problem-solving skills, learn to think more creatively and get a chance to test their knowledge in real-world situations.
In 2024, over a thousand students from across the UK took part in two gruelling rounds of online competition with the top 25 students competing in the national finals at Rochester Independent College. The winning team, with students hailing from The Royal Grammar School High Wycombe, Bishop Vesey’s School, St John’s College Cardiff and Charterhouse School, went on to represent the UK at the International Economics Olympiad finals in Hong Kong where they were victorious in the Business Case round, competing with teams from 51 other countries
The 2024 GBEO final was a huge success with five great teams competing for the honour of representing the UK in Hong Kong. Students were tasked with developing economic arguments surrounding the lower Thames crossing and were judged by a combination of Economics experts, City Finance Directors and a local government expert. Participants were welcomed with a live performance of an Economics themed playlist curated by RIC Music student Andrei and Maths teacher Rob Dimbleby. All finalists left with an RIC goody bag including a copy of ground-breaking economist Kate Raworth’s paradigm busting ‘Doughnut Economics’ which proposes a new model for thinking about the subject, breaking our addiction to growth; redesigning money, finance, and business to be in service to people and their wellbeing; and creating economies that are regenerative and distributive by design.
Angelina, the RIC student who started it all, is currently studying Economics at KCL.