Best Junior ISAs

The best ISAs for under 18s whether you want to invest or save cash

Junior ISAs (JISAs) are tax-free savings or investment accounts for children under 18. A parent or guardian can set them up if they’re under 16, or the child can set it up on their own if they’re 16 or 17, although they won’t be able to invest until they’re 18.

You can invest or save up to £9,000 per year in a Junior ISA, and anything you earn on it is tax-free.

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Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose.

Which Junior ISA is best for your child?

Before comparing specific providers, the biggest decision is cash vs stocks and shares, and it comes down to your child’s age and how long the money will be invested:

• Under 12, and you won’t need the money for at least 5 years – a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA usually makes more sense
• Over 12, or you know roughly when the money will be needed – a Junior Cash ISA is the safer, more predictable choice
• Not sure, or want the best of both – split the £9,000 annual allowance across both account types

The overviews below cover the best Junior ISA rates and providers for each type.

Best Junior Stocks & Shares ISAs

These Junior ISAs are for investing towards your child’s future. You can choose to either invest in a ready-made option, which is a portfolio that is created and managed by experts, or you can opt for DIY investing, which is where you create and manage the portfolio yourself. Some providers offer both options.

Best Junior Stocks & Shares ISAs

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interactive investor Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.1/5

Editor's comment

“

You need to have the Investor plan to open a Junior ISA, but this covers as many Junior ISAs as you need, so you can have as many open as you have children.

• Annual fee

  £11.99 per month (Investor plan)
• Investment styles

  DIY or ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £25 per month

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 1.51%
• Note on fees You need to have the Investor plan to open a Junior ISA, but this covers as many Junior ISAs as you need, so you can have as many open as you have children.
• Foreign exchange fee 1.50%
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 1.5%
• Trading fee £3.99

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Our top pick

Hargreaves Lansdown Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.3/5

• Annual fee

  0%
• Investment styles

  DIY or ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £100 or £25 per month

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2.53%
• Ready-made portfolios available 4 risk-based portfolios
• Transfer in existing ISAs? Yes
• Fund fees If you invest in ready-made portfolios or funds, you'll still need to pay fund fees depending on which portfolio you choose.

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Vanguard Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.4/5

• Annual fee

  0.15% (max £375 per year)
• Investment styles

  DIY or ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £100 per month or £500

Sells its own funds only

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 2.35%
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fund fees When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.06% and 0.79%

AJ Bell Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.3/5

• Annual fee

  0.25%
• Investment styles

  DIY or managed funds
• Minimum deposit

  £25 per month or £250 lump sum

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash 1.75% AER
• Fees —
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 155593
• Foreign exchange fee 0.75% on 0-£10,000, 0.5% on £10,000- £20,000 and 0.25% on values over £20,000
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fund fees If you invest in funds, you’ll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose
• Trading fee Shares - £5 (£3.50 if you had 10 or more share deals in the previous month), Funds - £1.50. No trading fees with regular investing and AJ Bell managed funds

Other Junior ISAs

JP Morgan Personal Investing Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.7/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Investment styles

  Ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £100

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Ready-made portfolios available 30 portfolios, including fully managed, fixed allocation and ethical
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes

Shepherds Friendly Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.7/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Investment styles

  Ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £10 per month or £100 lump sum

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Ready-made portfolios available One risk-based portfolio
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes

Moneyfarm Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Annual fee

  £0
• Investment styles

  DIY or ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £500

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Ready-made portfolios available A range of ethical managed portfolios, a low-risk portfolio and 4 thematic growth themes
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes

Beanstalk Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.6/5

• Annual fee

  0.5%
• Investment styles

  Ready-made portfolios
• Minimum deposit

  £10

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Ready-made portfolios available 2 tracker funds to choose between: an L&G cash fund and a Fidelity global shares fund
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fund fees You'll have to pay additional fund fees of up to 0.15%

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Wealthify Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Annual fee

  0.60%
• Investment styles

  Ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £1,000

• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Interest on uninvested cash No
• Ready-made portfolios available 10 portfolios based on risk and ethical options
• Important details Invite family members and friends to be contributors. Wealthify is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Over 18s, UK residents and UK taxpayers only. Up to £85,000 of eligible deposits is protected by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
• Fees —
• Foreign exchange fee —
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes

Scottish Friendly My Easy Select Junior ISA

Customer rating 3.7/5

• Annual fee

  1.25%
• Investment styles

  Ready-made
• Minimum deposit

  £30 per month or £100 lump sum

• Flexible ISA No
• FSCS Protected? Yes
• Ready-made portfolios available One fund available to invest in
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes: FRN 110002
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Offer details Investments in the Unitised With-Profits Fund are subject to an annual fee of 1.50% which is reflected in the bonus rates declared. Over 2025, Scottish Friendly will apply a special offer, reducing your overall charge applied to Unitised With-Profits Funds in your ISA or Junior ISA by 0.25%. This means bonuses applied over 2025 will reflect a reduced annual fee of 1.25%
• Risk warning Capital at risk. The value of your investments may go up or down.

Quilter Invest Junior Stocks & Shares ISA

Customer rating 4.8/5

• Service fee

  0.25%
• Investment styles

  DIY or ready-made investing
• Minimum deposit

  £10

*Sign up by 31 July and use the code SUMMER26 to get £0 subscription fee and 0.15% annual platform fee

• Flexible ISA Yes
• FSCS Protected? FSCS protection may apply if the custodian fails. It does not protect against investment losses.
• Interest on uninvested cash —
• Fees £2 per month and a 0.25% platform fee - if you join before 31 July using code SUMMER26, you’ll pay no subscription fee and a lower 0.15% platform fee
• Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Yes, FRN 955775
• Foreign exchange fee —
• Transfer in existing ISA? Yes
• Fund fees When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees.
• Investments available You can invest in OEICs and exchange-traded investments
• Risk warning The value of investments can go up and down and you may get back less than you invested.

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Best Junior Cash ISAs

These Junior ISAs are for saving cash. They’ll earn a set rate of interest that’s fixed or variable. These are the best-paying Cash JISAs right now.

Best Cash Junior ISAs

Leek Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.9/5

• AER (variable)

  3.85%
• Minimum

  £1
• Account opening

  Branch or via post

• Allows transfers in? Yes
• FSCS Protected? Yes

Skipton Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.4/5

• AER (variable)

  3.8%
• Minimum

  £1
• Account opening

  Branch or post

The Stafford Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.6/5

• AER (variable)

  3.76%
• Minimum

  £1
• Account opening

  Branch or via post

• Allows transfers in? Yes
• FSCS Protected? Yes

Coventry Building Society Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.4/5

• AER (variable)

  3.75%
• Minimum

  £1
• Account opening

  Branch or via post

• Allows transfers in? Yes
• FSCS Protected? Yes

Danske Bank UK Junior ISA

Customer rating 4.1/5

• AER (variable)

  3.75%
• Minimum

  £25
• Account opening

  Branch or via phone

• Allows transfers in? Yes
• FSCS Protected? Yes

NS&I Junior ISA

Customer rating 3.7/5

• AER (variable)

  3.7%
• Minimum

  £1
• Account opening

  Online

• Allows transfers in? Yes
• FSCS Protected? Yes

What is a Junior ISA?

A Junior ISA is an account for children under the age of 18 to help you save for their future. As with standard ISAs, anything they earn, whether interest, dividends or growth is tax-free.

There are two versions – a cash one and a Stocks & Shares one – and you can have one or both types. So which Junior ISA is best? It depends on your child’s age and what you’re saving for.

Junior ISAs are a really good way to save for your child over the long-term. No one can make withdrawals, not even the parents or guardians, so the money is locked up until the child turns 18. At 16, they can manage the account themselves but they can’t actually access the money until their 18th birthday.

Who can open a Junior ISA?

Parents and guardians can set up the account and manage it on their child’s behalf or the child and anyone can pay into the account – family, friends or neighbours, for example.

Or, the child can open the account themselves if they’re 16 or 17. However, they won’t be able to invest their money until they’re 18.

What is the Junior ISA allowance?

You can pay up to £9,000 into a Junior ISA each tax year. You’re able to split this between a Cash Junior ISA and Stocks & Shares Junior ISA.

However, you can only have one of each type of Junior ISA at a time. But you can usually transfer either to a new provider if you find a better rate or lower fees.

What happens to a Junior ISA when the child turns 18?

At 18, your child’s Junior ISA will be converted into an adult ISA – either a cash ISA or Stocks & Shares ISA, depending on the Junior ISA.

Your child will then be responsible for managing the account, making investments if they want to, transferring providers and they can also access the money as and when they please.

This can be a bit of a source of worry for some parents – that their darling offspring might blow 18 years of savings earmarked for university or a car, but the money will be in their name and they technically can spend it how they want.

Cash Junior ISA vs Stocks & Shares Junior ISA

The cash version is a lot like a savings account and is useful if you’ve an older child who might need the money in a few years, say for university or a car.

But for younger kids, where you’ve got at least five years before they can access their money, the Stocks and Shares Junior ISA is worth considering. That’s because over time, investing tends to beat savings rates and is better at keeping up, or outperforming, inflation.

The longer you can afford to invest, the better, as you have longer to ride out the bumps in the stock market. If you’re new to investing or just want to brush up, we’ve got some brilliant guides in our investing hub.

Do you need a Junior ISA for your child?

If you’ve got kids and are looking to help them save for their future, Junior ISAs are a really good option.

You can of course save elsewhere, and if you want them to have access, that might be better. But you do need to watch out for tax. While a child won’t have to pay tax on most children’s savings accounts, that’s not always the case. There are rules that mean if your child gets more than £100 in interest from money given by you as a parent, you do have to pay tax if it’s above your Personal Savings Allowance.

Frequently asked questions

Expert thoughts on choosing a Junior ISA from Be Clever With Your Cash

The decision parents agonise over most is cash versus stocks and shares, when the answer really comes down to how long the money is locked away for. For a child under about 12, a Stocks & Shares Junior ISA makes sense in most cases – there’s typically the five-plus years needed to ride out any dips in the market, and historically that time horizon has strongly favoured investing over cash.

For older children, where the money’s likely use is already known, cash becomes the more sensible, predictable choice. A stock market dip landing the year before a child turns 18 and needs the money is best avoided, so the closer that date gets, the more capital safety should be favoured over growth potential.

It’s also worth remembering there’s no need to commit to one approach forever. A cash and a stocks and shares Junior ISA can be held simultaneously, splitting the £9,000 annual allowance between them, and many parents shift the balance gradually, starting mostly invested when a child is young, and rotating more into cash as their 18th birthday approaches.