AHIGH-flying pupil from Worcester has shown how hard work and determination can pay dividends.

Joe Fowles, of King’s School Worcester, has been honoured for being one of the five topperforming GCSE pupils in the country.

The 16-year-old was given his award – a solid sliver medal and a framed certificate – in December at a prestigious ceremony in London by the exam board the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) At the ceremony, Joe was given the title of top AQA GCSE humanities candidate.

Joe said: “In my spare time I enjoy playing and coaching cricket and I wish to take these to the highest possible level.

“My ambition is to study at Oxford or Cambridge and use my degree to work in business or politics.”

The AQA is the largest A-level and GCSE awarding body in the UK, awarding 45 per cent of fullcourse GCSEs and 44 per cent of A-levels nationally.

Last summer, about 1.5 million candidates sat the AQA A-level and GCSE exams, and they processed about 10.5 million marks in total from about 3.5 million pieces of coursework, and about 6.5 million completed exam papers.

Lower sixth form pupil Joe was the top candidate for geography from more than 204,000 entries in the GCSE humanities group last summer. He received a cheque for £30 from the Royal Geographical Society.

Worcester MP Robin Walker also went along to the ceremony to show his support for Joe.

Simon Cuthbertson, head of geography at King’s School Worcester, said: “I am delighted to see Joe receive this special award for his outstanding achievement in geography last summer.

“It is truly deserved as he is a very talented and hard-working student who always strives for top results.

“He is an academic leader and not only achieved the top geography result in the country but also straight A*s in all his GCSE subjects.

“He is a pleasure to teach and also makes a full contribution to the wider school community and extra-curricular activities, notably cricket.”

Headteacher Tim Keyes also praised his hard work.

He said: “Joe is a remarkable young man in many ways. When you meet him, you are impressed by his modesty, his enthusiasm and his awareness of what is going on in the world.

“It is no surprise to me that he is studying economics and history at A-level since he clearly has a particular interest in current affairs and in economic and political developments over time.

“His outstanding performance in geography at GCSE shows, among other qualities, his capacity to master all aspects of a subject and his determination to be the very best at what he does.

“He is a very impressive academic – but he wears his learning lightly.

“He is also, for instance, a very able sportsman who has coped with great patience with the long recovery period which was needed following a serious sporting injury last spring.

“We are delighted that he expects to be back in action for the cricket season next term.

“England’s performance in the Ashes will have made him all the more determined to improve his skills.

“His teachers at King’s have been very impressed by the way in which he has made light of the frustration of not being able to play his sport and has looked for new challenges.

“One thing that I particularly admire about Joe is that he is prepared to take an interest in and to encourage younger pupils in the school.

“I expect to see him become one of our most influential pupils during his two years in the sixth form here.

“He is a natural leader and motivator, a very self-disciplined and determined young man and a great role model for younger boys and girls.”

Andrew Hall, chief executive of AQA said: “Our award winners have achieved outstanding success, and I congratulate them and wish them every success in the future.”