1985: Teenage genius gets a first

Child prodigy Ruth Lawrence has achieved a starred first in Mathematics at Oxford University.

The 13-year-old is the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.

As well as being the only student to attain that grade this year she is also one of two students to be awarded a prize and special commendation for the degree she has completed in two years instead of the usual three.

The teenager - who never went to school and was tutored by her father Harry Lawrence - said that the result was much as she had expected.

Mr Lawrence has been his daughter's constant companion and attended all of her lectures and tutorials at university.

They arrived at the Examination School together on a tandem bicycle to see her results posted on a board.

Impressive figures

Ruth, from Huddersfield, told Sue Cook on Breakfast Time that she intends to stay in Oxford for the next three years doing some sort of research.

She does not yet know which branch of mathematics she will specialise in or what she would ultimately like to achieve, but because of the broad range of options she has taken - including pure and applied maths - says she "can go off in virtually any direction".

By the age of nine Ruth had already entered the record books by achieving a grade A in her Pure Mathematics A-level.

Ruth intends to spend the £100 prize she won from Oxford University on new maths books for her 14th birthday next month.

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