A Junior ISA is a tax-free account for a child, locked until they’re 18. Anyone can pay in, but the money belongs to the child from the start.
The rules
A Junior ISA is a tax-free account for a child under 18 living in the UK. Anyone can pay in, up to £9,000 a tax year in total; the money belongs to the child, who can take control of the account at 16 and withdraw it at 18, when it becomes an adult ISA.- The child must be under 18 and living in the UK (or depend on a parent who is a Crown servant overseas).
- A child can have one cash Junior ISA and one stocks and shares Junior ISA.
- Anyone can pay in, but no more than £9,000 a tax year in total across the child's Junior ISAs.
- Only a parent or guardian with parental responsibility can open one for a child under 16; children aged 16 and 17 can open their own.
- The money belongs to the child. They can take control of the account at 16 and withdraw at 18, when it automatically becomes an adult ISA.
- A child can't have a Junior ISA and a Child Trust Fund: transfer the Child Trust Fund into the Junior ISA.
- You can't transfer money between a Junior ISA and an adult ISA.
Cash or stocks and shares
| Cash Junior ISA | Stocks and shares Junior ISA | |
|---|---|---|
| Can it fall in value? | No | Yes |
| Return | Interest at the account’s rate | Whatever the investments return |
| Costs | Built into the rate | Platform and fund charges |
| Suits | An older child, or money that must be there at 18 | A young child, with many years to invest |
A child can have one of each and split the yearly £9,000 between them. Example. £100 a month from the child’s 5th birthday to their 18th is 156 payments, or £15,600 paid in, before any interest or growth. Use the ISA calculator to see what it might grow to at different rates.
Choosing a provider
This page doesn’t list named accounts. What to compare:
- Cash Junior ISAs: the rate. The Bank of England doesn’t publish an average for Junior ISAs; the average for adult variable rate cash ISAs was 2.01% in August 2026, a useful benchmark.
- Stocks and shares Junior ISAs: the platform and fund charges, in pounds a year as well as percentages, and the investments on offer.
- For both: whether you can transfer in (for example from a Child Trust Fund), and whether family can pay in easily.
The registered contact, the parent or guardian who opened it, is the only person who can move a Junior ISA to another provider or change it between cash and stocks and shares.
Money from parents: the £100 rule
There's usually no tax on a child's savings, but if money a parent gave the child earns more than £100 of interest in a tax year, HMRC must be told and the parent pays tax on all of that interest if it takes them over their own Personal Savings Allowance. The limit doesn't apply to money from grandparents, other relatives or friends, or to a Junior ISA or Child Trust Fund. That makes a Junior ISA a good home for larger gifts from parents: see saving for a child.
At 16 and 18
At 16 the child can take over as the registered contact and manage the account themselves. At 18 the Junior ISA becomes an adult ISA in their name: they can take the money out, leave it where it is, or transfer it to another ISA. If the child won’t be able to manage their money at 18, a parent or relative can apply to the Court of Protection (in Scotland, the Office of the Public Guardian; in Northern Ireland, the Office of Care and Protection) for the right to manage it.
Money can come out early only if the child is terminally ill, through an application to HMRC.
Related guides
- ISAs guide: the ISA types, the allowance and the main choices in one place
- Child Trust Funds: the older accounts, and moving one to a Junior ISA
- Saving for a child: children’s savings accounts and Premium Bonds compared
- Cash or stocks and shares ISA: the same choice for adults