Junior ISA

The Freetrade stocks and shares Junior ISA (JISA) is a tax-efficient investing account you can open on behalf of your child under 16. The money is held in the child’s name and is intended for the child’s future. You can invest in a wide variety of assets like funds, stocks, ETFs, bonds, and more. You don’t pay UK tax on interest, dividends, or capital gains inside the account.

There are two types: 

• A cash Junior ISA, which lets you save cash for your child and earns interest like a savings account
• A stocks and shares Junior ISA, which lets you invest for your child

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Your child can have one of both types of Junior ISA, but not more than one of each type with different providers. 

Freetrade offers a stocks and shares Junior ISA.

Yes! A child can hold one of each type simultaneously, but the annual allowance applies across both per relevant tax year 

So you could pay £4,500 into the child’s cash JISA and another £4,500 into the child’s stocks and shares JISA, for a total annual contribution of £9,000 for the whole tax year. 

No. A child can only have one stocks and shares JISA at a time. 

This means that if your child has a stocks and shares JISA with another provider, and you then open a Freetrade JISA, you must choose to transfer the existing one fully to Freetrade as part of the account opening process.

For the current tax year, you can invest up to £9,000 in total across all Junior ISAs the child has. 

So you could pay £4,500 into the child’s cash JISA and another £4,500 into the child’s stocks and shares JISA, for a total annual contribution of £9,000.

Yes! If you want, you can set up regular contributions using a Direct Debit and recurring orders. You can also choose to make one-off top ups, as long as the total stays within the annual limit. 

No. A child’s Junior ISA allowance is separate from an adult’s ISA allowance. Paying into a child’s Junior ISA doesn’t impact your own ISA allowance.

No, you cannot carry over or use an unused JISA allowance from a previous tax year. JISA allowances operate on a "use it or lose it" basis. If you do not top up the full amount permitted under the allowance by 5 April, the remaining allowance is lost forever and does not add to the next year's limit.

The term registered contact (RC) refers to the parent or guardian who opens and manages the JISA. 

The term beneficiary refers to the child for whom the account has been opened and to whom the money in the JISA legally belongs.

As a parent or legal guardian with parental responsibility, you can open the Freetrade JISA for your child under 16. Once opened, you’ll act as the registered contact until the child turns 18.

Grandparents cannot directly open a Junior ISA for a grandchild unless they have legal guardianship, as this role is restricted to parents or guardians.

When your child turns 18, their Freetrade Junior ISA will be converted into a Freetrade stocks and shares ISA and your child will be asked to complete the relevant paperwork.

Once the account is converted, the child will gain full access to their investments and savings. They can continue to invest, transfer the ISA somewhere else, or withdraw their money in part or in full.

No. A Child Trust Fund is a long-term tax-free savings account for children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011.

The Child Trust Fund scheme is now closed, but you can transfer your child’s Child Trust Fund in full to a Freetrade stocks and shares Junior JISA.

Yes! You can transfer a CTF in full into Freetrade’s Junior ISA. However, a child can’t have a CTF and a JISA at the same time, so you’ll need to close the CTF as part of the transfer process. 

The good news is: transfers don’t use up the annual allowance.

First, you’ll need to open a Junior ISA with Freetrade using the mobile app or web platform. As part of this process, you’ll have the option to transfer a Child Trust Fund.  You’ll need to fill out a simple, online form, which only takes a few minutes. You’ll need the provider name, account number, and the approximate value of the Child Trust Fund you’re looking to transfer. 

You can usually choose between transferring your child’s current investments as they are or selling them down to transfer over as cash. We’ll guide you through the transfer process and contact your current provider on your behalf. During the transfer, you usually won’t need to do anything yourself.

Timelines will vary depending on your provider, but we’ll chase them if needed.

A National Insurance number isn’t necessary to open a Junior ISA. However, if the child has a National Insurance number, you will need to provide it when opening the account.

Once you’ve opened a Junior ISA as the parent or legal guardian of a child, you can decide where to invest.

With Freetrade, you can choose from over 7,000 global equities, funds, ETFs, investment trusts, and bonds. You'll be able to trade anything that is available in an ISA.

Not sure where to start? Choose from one of three ready-made portfolios based on your risk appetite. 

You can add money to existing investments over time, set up a recurring order to invest automatically each month, or buy and sell investments as you choose.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can choose one of our three diversified ready-made portfolios, each suited to a different risk appetite: conservative, moderate, and adventurous. These aim to give broad market exposure and professional diversification instantly.

Yes. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and your child may get back less than invested. Diversification and long-term investing help manage risk but do not eliminate it.

Freetrade doesn’t charge any commission fees, holding fees, or account fees for investing in a JISA. The JISA is available on all Freetrade plans, including our free Basic plan.

If you choose to invest in non-GBP instruments, you’ll pay an FX fee of 0.99% on Freetrade’s Basic plan. If you think you’ll make a lot of international trades and you want to pay lower FX fees, you can choose to subscribe to the Standard or Plus plan.

Yes! You can transfer a JISA from another provider into Freetrade’s Junior ISA. You can transfer as cash or as investments. If you’re transferring a stocks and shares JISA, you must transfer it in full. If you’re transferring a cash JISA, you can choose to transfer it in full (full transfer), or just a portion of it (partial transfer).

And transfers don’t use up any of the annual allowance. 

Remember: a child can only have one cash JISA and one stocks and shares JISA at a time.

The money belongs to the child from day one. You manage it as the registered contact, but legally it’s the child’s money.

No. Money held in a JISA cannot be withdrawn before the child turns 18, except in rare circumstances such as where the child is terminally ill or in the event the child passes away.

Growth and income inside a Junior ISA are free from UK income and capital gains tax. 

Tax treatment depends on personal circumstances and current rules may change.

No, only the registered contact can make payments into the child’s Junior ISA. Note that if you make a payment to a Freetrade Junior ISA, this is treated as a gift to the child. This means that the payment is non-refundable if the person who made the payment changes their mind at a later date.

You can top up your Freetrade Junior ISA with as little as £1.

If you are the registered contact for a child’s JISA and then no longer have parental responsibility for the child, you must notify us as this means we can no longer take instructions from you as registered contact. You can no longer be the registered contact in these circumstances and a new registered contact will need to be appointed.

No, once you have added money to your child’s Freetrade JISA, it cannot be withdrawn until the child turns 18. However, we can facilitate a transfer to another provider.

If you’ve opened a JISA, but it’s empty, you can choose to close it at any time.

No, your child won’t have their own login details to access the Junior ISA. The account is managed by the registered contact until the child turns 18.

At age 18, the Junior ISA will automatically convert into an adult ISA. When this happens, you will no longer be the registered contact of the account and will lose access to the account. Your child will then be able to set up their own login and take full control of the account.

No, contributions or transfers to a Junior ISA are not eligible for 1% cashback as part of the 2026 tax year end offer. 

If there are cashback offers in the future that apply to the Junior ISA, this will be clearly called out on the offer webpage. 

For many families, it’s simply easier. Keeping your child’s Junior ISA alongside your own ISA and pension can reduce admin and give you a clearer view of your household’s long-term investing. 

Plus, with Freetrade, kids go free. And so do you. Pay no account fees or commission fees on Freetrade’s Junior ISA, ISA, or pension. 

Depending on the investment you choose, other charges, like FX fees, could still apply.

Yes! They will have their own cash interest limit that matches whatever subscription plan you, as the registered contact, are on. This will be separate to any cash interest that you, as a Freetrade account holder, earn on your GIA, ISA, and SIPP. 

So if you are a Basic plan customer, your child will earn 1% AER on up to £1,000 uninvested cash in their Junior ISA. 

If you are a Standard plan customer, your child will earn 2.5% AER on up to £2,000 uninvested cash in their Junior ISA. 

If you are a Plus plan customer, your child will earn 3.5% AER on up to £3,000 uninvested cash in their Junior ISA.

Cash interest will be paid into their Junior ISA on the 11th working day of every month. Like any other money in a Junior ISA, it cannot be withdrawn before the child turns 18.

At the moment, you can’t open a Freetrade Junior ISA for a child aged 16 or 17. This is due to additional features and operational requirements for opening JISAs at these ages, which we don’t currently support. We do regularly review our product offering and may expand this in the future.

If your child already has a Freetrade Junior ISA, you can continue to manage it as usual when they turn 16. However, it’s not possible to open a new Junior ISA for someone aged 16 or 17.

When your child turns 18, their Freetrade Junior ISA will automatically convert into a Freetrade stocks and shares ISA. At that point, they’ll be asked to complete the relevant paperwork. Once the account is converted, they’ll be able to access the investments and cash held within the JISA and make withdrawals.