Pupils from a Sutton secondary school have defeated fierce competition from more than 1,000 teams from schools across the UK to reach the final of a national business competition.

Greenshaw High School, in Grennell Road, “excelled” in several areas, including commercial awareness, resilience and organisation to reach ICAEW’s final, BASE, in June next month.

ICAEW says it has put almost 5,000 “business-savvy” students to the test by giving them a taste of what life is like as a chartered accountant.

They were tested on their ability to think strategically as BASE says it offers students from all backgrounds opportunities to develop various key and important skills for working in business.

Sharon Spice, ICAEW director for global student recruitment, said: “This year we have seen an increase in the number of students taking part, making the competition stronger than ever.

“Students from London were supported by a number of ICAEW members living and working across the region. The team from Greenshaw High School showed excellent initiative throughout the process and presented themselves professionally.

Sharon added: “I would like to offer my congratulations to all teams that took part and am delighted at the level of talent we will be seeing in the final.”

This is now the second time BASE has gone digital, with it having seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of students taking part since making the decision.