Computer whizzkid passes A-level

A teenage computer enthusiast is one of the youngest candidates to pass an A-level this year.

Adam Buckland, of St Albans, Hertfordshire, was 13 when he took his A-level in computing this summer after just a year's part-time study.

The results out on Thursday showed Adam - who is a pupil at top private school Saint Albans - gained a C.

He said: "Since I was four, when we got our first computer, I used to like using it."

Games enthusiast

The course was "tough" but Adam - who was 14 last month - said he enjoyed it. "It's not so much a chore, you could call it a hobby."

Asked what he wanted to do now he had the A-level, he replied: "Probably my dream job would be to work for a computer games manufacturer."

He said he preferred racing games to "shoot `em ups" because "they require a lot of skill".

His mother Jenny, a personal assistant, said she was "very proud of him" and added: "It was quite tough at the time but he enjoyed it."

She had looked into computer courses that were on offer but found they were aimed at business users or, only admitted adults.

Then they learned of Ryde College, a private tutorial centre in Hertfordshire, which has produced some of the youngest people to pass exams in maths and IT.

"Adam was mad keen to go and see. He went for an interview and they suggested he was sufficiently knowledgeable to have a try for the A-level," Mrs Buckland added.

The record for the youngest person to pass an A-level is believed to be held by Ganesh Sittampalam, who got an A in maths in 1988 when he was nine years and four months old.