Design a £100 Note Challenge

A cross-curricular Art and Design challenge for UKS2. Pupils design a £100 banknote complete with 14 real security features. Active learning throughout.

The UK’s highest-value note is £50 — but inflation means money loses value over time, so could a £100 note be coming? Pupils take on the role of Bank of England designers, using a fully annotated example note to understand what real banknotes must include, then creating their own original design from scratch.

The resource introduces the concept of inflation naturally, without turning it into a heavy economics lesson. Pupils choose their own famous British figure for the reverse, pick a new colour palette, and must incorporate genuine security features — holograms, watermarks, serial numbers, wavy anti-counterfeiting lines and more. Suggest enlarging the design template to A3 for the best results.

Supports the KS2 Art and Design curriculum and links naturally to PSHE and financial education objectives around the purpose and value of money.

This activity is one of hundreds of resources on the Tykeoons primary financial education platform. Start your school’s FREE pilot.

This resource contains:

• Instruction sheet with fully annotated example £100 note (front and reverse)
• Blank design template (printable at A3)

The 14 features pupils must include:

• The number 100 in more than one place
• The words “One Hundred Pounds” and “Bank of England”
• The Chief Cashier’s signature
• A famous British figure on the reverse (pupil’s choice)
• Images linked to that person
• A metallic security foil, hologram, and watermark symbol
• A serial number and message from the Chief Cashier
• Wavy lines/swirls to prevent counterfeiting
• A new colour palette (not green, orange, purple, or red — already used)
• A portrait of the King on the front
• Font styles that match real banknotes