Boy, 14, set for university after A-level success

Elias said he was looking forward to getting started at Imperial College London

A 14-year-old boy who has been homeschooled since the Covid pandemic will be going to university in late September after he aced his A-levels four years early.

Elias, from Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, will be studying biomedical engineering at Imperial College London after getting four A*s and an A in his exams.

The young high-flyer and his equally-talented little sister Ariel, 11, have been tutored by their older siblings Clara and Juliana, who are both students at Imperial.

Elias, who also got a grade 9 in GCSE English, said he was "very satisfied" with his results and could not wait to get started at university.

He said: "I'm pretty excited and I'm also slightly nervous as well but I'm looking forward to it, extremely.

"My sisters can also help because they go to Imperial as well so it'll be quite fun since I'm going with my other siblings."

Elias and Ariel, pictured with sisters Ella, Clara and Juliana (L-R), scored top grades in their exams

Elias achieved three of his A*s – in chemistry, maths and physics – last year, while he scored an A* in further maths and A in biology this year.

He said he was "very grateful" to his sisters and the rest of his family for their support, adding: "They helped me out a lot, definitely, throughout my whole education journey."

Meanwhile, Ariel received 9s in GCSE maths and chemistry last year before following those up with 9s in further maths and physics, along with an 8 in biology, this year.

She was a year younger than Elias was when he took his GCSEs and she has already started studying A-levels in maths, biology, chemistry and physics.

"I feel so happy that I got 9s last year for maths and chemistry, even though I started one year earlier than my brother," she said.

Both Elias and Ariel said they were very proud of each other, with the latter saying: "If he can do that [get into university] I feel like I can also achieve the same."

Ariel has already started studying her A-levels after getting top marks in her GCSEs

Clara, who is due to start a PhD in chemical engineering at Imperial, said she and Juliana, also a PhD student at the same university, would be accompanying Elias to his classes and had made preparations with the staff.

She said they initially had not planned to continue home-schooling their younger siblings, having started with just one or two subjects, but they "accelerated" Elias and Ariel's studies when they saw the progress they were making.

Clara and Juliana ensured their younger siblings' days of home-schooling were balanced, allowing time for breaks and fun activities like board games or sport.

"We're definitely all really proud of them because we did this all within a short timeframe," she added.

The sisters were hoping to tutor other children part-time during their own studies as they wanted to be "open to help others".

"We want to give hope to other talented students, that they can be home-schooled and expand their dreams," Clara said.