For the eighth year, the Bank of England is inviting economics A-level students from across the country to take on the job of setting interest rates in the Target Two Point Zero Interest Rate Challenge, supported by The Times.

Schools have to form teams of four pupils, who create their own Monetary Policy Committee and consider whether the Bank should raise, cut or hold interest rates next month. The teams compete against each other on the quality of their argument and their mastery of the data.

The challenge is not only to master the theory of economics that the Bank relies upon, but also to keep a running tally of the mass of statistics published every month on the health of the economy.

At each stage the teams face a panel of Bank of England judges assessing the teams’ presentations, developed from material provided by the Bank and from other sources, supplemented with regular articles published in The Times.

Schools will give their first presentations at regional heats, which take place this November.

Winners in those heats progress to area finals in February, from which the six victorious teams will challenge each other at the Bank of England in London in March 2008. The top prize is a cheque for £10,000 for the winning team's school.

The contest, the brainchild of Mervyn King, the Bank's Governor, has expanded quickly since its inception in 2001.

In that year, Harry Carlton Comprehensive School, Leicestershire, saw off challenges from 166 schools. Last year the competition attracted 265 teams and the winner of the national final was Leeds Grammar School.

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