Children
Junior ISA: the £9,000 limit and what the account can reach by 18
Enter the child’s age, what the family pays in each month and what is already saved. The tool grows the account to the 18th birthday and keeps the yearly total within the limit.
Junior ISA at 18
Value at 18
£27,210
| Paid in until then | £18,000 |
| Growth | £7,710 |
| Paid in each year | £1,200 |
The money is the child’s and can be taken out from 18 only.
A Junior ISA is a tax-free savings account for a child under 18 who lives in the UK. It comes in two types, cash and stocks and shares, and a child can hold one of each. In 2026/27 up to £9,000 can be paid in across the child's Junior ISAs, by anyone: parents, grandparents, other relatives or friends. Only a parent or guardian with parental responsibility can open the account and manage it, but the money belongs to the child. The child can take over the running of it at 16 and can withdraw the money only from 18, when the account turns into an adult ISA in their name. Interest, dividends and growth inside it are never taxed, and the parental £100 rule does not apply. Paying £100 a month from birth, with growth of 4 % a year, gives about £31,390 at 18 for £21,600 paid in.
Sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the sums are done
Who does what
The rules separate three roles (GOV.UK, Junior Individual Savings Accounts). A parent or guardian with parental responsibility opens the account and is its registered contact. Anyone may pay in, within the yearly total (GOV.UK, adding money to a Junior ISA). The child owns the money from the first payment. At 16 the child can become the registered contact; at 18 the account becomes an adult ISA and the money can come out.
What regular payments grow to
The table assumes payments start at birth and growth of 4 % a year, a round figure for illustration. In a cash Junior ISA growth is the interest rate offered; in a stocks and shares one it is not guaranteed and the value can fall.
| Each month | Each year | Paid in by 18 | Growth | Value at 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25 | £300 | £5,400 | £2,447 | £7,847 |
| £50 | £600 | £10,800 | £4,895 | £15,695 |
| £100 | £1,200 | £21,600 | £9,790 | £31,390 |
| £250 | £3,000 | £54,000 | £24,475 | £78,475 |
| £750 | £9,000 | £162,000 | £73,425 | £235,425 |
The top line, £750 a month, is the most the account can take: £9,000 a year. Few families come close. HMRC counted 1,600,000 Junior ISAs subscribed to in 2024/25, with an average of £1,570 paid in each (HMRC annual savings statistics, September 2026), which is about £131 a month.
Starting later
A Junior ISA can be opened at any age before 18. The later it starts, the fewer years of payments and growth remain. Here £100 a month goes in from the age shown.
| Age at first payment | Years to 18 | Paid in | Value at 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 18 | £21,600 | £31,390 |
| 5 | 13 | £15,600 | £20,351 |
| 10 | 8 | £9,600 | £11,278 |
| 15 | 3 | £3,600 | £3,821 |
Cash or stocks and shares
A child can have one Junior ISA of each type, or only one of them. In a cash Junior ISA no tax is paid on the interest; in a stocks and shares Junior ISA the money is invested and no tax is paid on capital growth or dividends. The £9,000 limit covers both together. The choice is the registered contact's until the child takes over at 16. A child who lives outside the UK can hold a Junior ISA only if their parent is a Crown servant and the child depends on that parent for care.
Why the wrapper matters for a child
A child has their own Personal Allowance, starting rate for savings and Personal Savings Allowance, so interest in an ordinary children's account is rarely taxed in the child's name. The issue is money from a parent: once it earns more than £100 of interest in a tax year, all of that interest is taxed as the parent's income (GOV.UK, interest on savings for children). Money in a Junior ISA or a Child Trust Fund is outside that rule. The page on children’s savings tax works the rule through with the parent's tax band, and the page on Junior ISAs at 18 covers what the young adult inherits on their birthday.