A group of business-minded students have secured their place in the semi-finals of a national investment competition, after outperforming the stock market with £50,000 of virtual shares.

Brothers Harry and Nanyo Nanev, 13 and 15 respectively, along with Kieran Mezroui, 15, and Mudassar Zafri, 14, also outperformed 30,000 school children from across the country.

If the Glenthorne High students are succesful in the semi-final of the Institute of Financial Services Student Investor Challenge, they could go on to win an all-expenses paid trip to New York and £2,000 for their school.

The Glenthorne students made nearly £50,000 in profit by trading their virtual cash on the FTSE 100. 

Dee Chadwick, Maths co-ordinator at Glenthorne High School, said: "We’d like to wish the team congratulations and good luck for the semi-final."

The next stage requires teams to predict the closing price of an asset by the end of a given Friday, with points awarded for the best predictions.

If the group is successful they will make the final takes place on April 30, where they will compete against seven over teams in a live trading simulation.