This year, Godalming College entered students in the inaugural Cambridge Economics Challenge, a new university-level competition run by the University of Cambridge, sat by 1,902 students nationally. The paper was designed to stretch the very best economics students in the country, covering topics well beyond A-level: from property rights and bargaining theory to monetary policy rules and probability theory.
Our students performed exceptionally. Chen Liang achieved a perfect score of 50 out of 50, placing her among only 14 students nationally to reach the Rose Ryal award threshold of 40 or above, the top 0.7% of all candidates. The majority of our cohort achieved Sovereign awards (28 to 39 marks), placing them in the top 11.7% of all candidates nationally. Several students achieved Crown awards (23 to 27 marks), placing them in the top 32.7% nationally. Not a single student finished without an award.
Two of our students, Chen Liang and Taalay Ullah, have been invited to attend a fully funded residential camp at St Catharine's College, Cambridge in September 2026, as part of the competition's widening participation programme. These results reflect the depth of preparation and intellectual ambition that the Aspire Economics & Finance Programme fosters, and I am immensely proud of every student who took part. Ramin Abbassi, Economics Teacher