Guide to Junior ISAs

A Junior Individual Savings Account (JISA) is a savings account for under 18s. ISAs (including JISAs) are special types of savings accounts because any interest or income earned within an ISA is tax-free for the life of the account.

Who can open a JISA?

Only a parent (or person with parental responsibility) can open a Junior ISA. You must also be a UK resident.

Who can contribute to a JISA?

Anyone! Grandparents, other family members or generous friends can put money into your child’s JISA. Parents often suggest those wanting to gift money as a Christening, new baby, or birthday present, put it straight into their child’s JISA.

How much can we save into our child’s JISA?

There is an annual limit. Currently, that limit is £9,000 per year.

Is there a limit on how much growth is tax-free?

No. Any interest or income you make within a JISA – however much it is – remains tax-free for the life of the account.

Who controls the ISA?

Parents do until the child reaches 16. That means parents choose the provider, decide what happens to the cash in the account (whether it remains as cash or is invested into stocks and shares), and how much is paid in.

When your child reaches 16, however, they gain the right to take responsibility for those decisions. Of course, they may still want you to remain in charge, but they do legally have the right to take control.

It’s important to note, though, that the money remains locked away and cannot be withdrawn until the child reaches 18.

If your child was born before 2nd January 2011, they will have been had a Child Trust Fund (CTF) opened on their behalf by the government. If you aren’t sure what happened to your child’s CTF, you can request the details of where it’s held here: https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fund (the government’s free CTF tracking service).

No child can hold both a CTF and a Junior ISA. So you’ll need to convert a CTF to a Junior ISA.

A small number of under-18s born before January 2011 will not have had a CTF opened for them (for example, because they weren’t UK citizens at the time). If that’s the case, you can go ahead and open a JISA normally.

When a child turns 18, their Junior ISA (JISA) automatically converts into an adult ISA and the child can continue to save/invest through the account in a tax-free way.

Alternatively, the child can withdraw some or all of the funds from the account.

At 18, no-one else can contribute into the ISA on the account-holder’s behalf, although you can put gifted money into your ISA providing it comes through your own bank account.

There are potentially huge benefits to saving even a small amount of money into a JISA. Just £10 per month could help your child purchase a car when they are 18, afford university, or put down a deposit on somewhere to live. Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity both offer fee-free Junior ISAs meaning these are totally free to set up and hold. And with no tax to pay, there are no risks of unexpected costs for opening this type of account.

One things to be mindful of, however: Money within a JISA is locked away until the child reaches 18. That means it’s only appropriate to use this kind of savings account if you are happy for that money to be out of reach for many years.

You’ll see two different types of Junior ISA talked about and offered by providers:

• Junior cash ISAs
• Junior stocks and shares ISA

Both allow you to save into an account, with zero tax to pay on any growth the account makes, on behalf of your child.

The difference comes in what happens to the money you save, what kinds of returns you can make, and how safe your savings are.

Junior cash ISA

With a Junior cash ISA, your savings are kept as cash. The income you earn is interest, paid by your provider at a pre-determined interest rate. This can either be fixed – meaning you’ll know exactly what growth your cash will achieve – or variable, meaning it may go up and down as it tracks the Bank of England base rate.

The benefit of a Junior cash ISA is that there are very few risks with cash. The only risk is that the rate of interest is low and so growth is poor. In the worst case scenario, your child’s savings do not keep up with the rate of inflation, in which case they lose real world value.

Junior stocks and shares ISA

Invests in the stock market, with potential for higher returns but also risk of losses.

Yes, you can. You can change your mind at any time, whether that’s because you’ve found a better rate of interest with a different cash JISA, or because you’ve changed your mind and want to swap from a cash to an investment JISA (or visa versa) instead.

You cannot withdraw the cash because once it is put into a JISA it becomes the future property of your child. But transferring between JISAs is allowed.

✅ Tax-free growth – No income tax or capital gains tax on interest or investment gains

✅ Long-term saving – Funds are locked until the child turns 18, encouraging long-term financial planning

✅ Higher interest rates – Cash JISAs often offer better rates than standard savings accounts

✅ Potential for growth – Stocks & Shares JISAs can provide higher returns over time compared to cash savings

✅ Parental control – Parents/guardians manage the account until the child turns 18, preventing early withdrawals

❌ Locked until 18 – Money cannot be accessed before the child turns 18, which may be restrictive in emergencies.

❌ Risk with investments – Stocks & Shares JISAs can lose value if the market performs poorly

❌ No Parental Access at 18 – The child gains full control at 18, which may lead to irresponsible spending

❌ Contribution limits – There is an annual limit (£9,000 for the tax year 2024/25)

❌ Inflation Risk (Cash JISA) – Interest rates may not keep up with inflation, reducing the real value of savings

The following providers offer a Junior Stocks & Shares ISA:

The following providers offer a Junior Cash ISA:

To find the right Junior ISA for you, visit our Best Junior ISA page for our top-ranked Junior ISA listings.

When you’re ready, you can click straight through to the provider you choose.

Anything we haven’t covered? Get in contact and let us know.