I read about this young and talented boy a couple of days back. He deserves accolades for his exceptional achievement. He appeared in 24 subjects in A Levels and secured A grade in 22 subjects.  He’s also made it to the Guinness Book of Records. He’s definitely set high standards for himself!

Ali, who speaks Urdu, English and Punjabi, sat all the exams within 12 months at Rawalpindi’s Roots College International. His entry was organised through accredited boards Ed-Excel and Cambridge International Examinations.

Ali also achieved a top score in the U.S. admissions test and was accepted by most Ivy League institutions, including Harvard and Yale. Apart from core science subjects he is almost entirely self taught. He studied for up to 12 hours a day, using energy drinks to help concentrate.

He still managed to keep up his leisure pursuits, however, playing the guitar, cricket and table tennis, and editing his school newspaper. He even found time for a trip to America to attend a Harvard leadership course.

But it wasn’t always like that.

Ali’s incredible talent began to emerge only at the age of 15. He was a chubby boy and rather solitary and many of his early results were mediocre.

He said: ‘Then one day it all clicked. I needed to prove to myself, and to others, that I could do it.’ At O-level  -  still an internationally recognised qualification  -  he got nine A grades.

Then came the A-levels. His mother Nisar Malik, 48, father Zaka Ullah, 51, both doctors, though worried about his workload, were very supportive. ‘They always said that if I was happy, they were happy,’ he said. ‘Now they love the fact that I’ve done so well.’

So just how does he manage to achieve so much? One teacher described him as having ‘a mind like a scanner’ but Ali says he does not have a photographic memory.

He simply enjoys learning. ‘The way I work is by spending ten minutes on one subject, then switching to another, then another. It’s a bit haphazard but it works.’

He retained the knowledge by linking facts to funny anecdotes he invented, and by reading around the subjects.

Hardest part was the exams, which he described as ‘a mental endurance battle’. For two weeks he had a minimum of four every day, sometimes from 8am to midnight to avoid timetable clashes.

Dr Nick Bampos, senior tutor at Trinity Hall, said the first time he and his colleagues saw Ali’s application they found it hard to believe.

Dr Bampos said: ‘But not only is he really bright, he is really charming. He might be a computer scientist but he shatters all the stereotypes. We’re delighted to have him.’

The boy so set on getting to Cambridge

I am glad that I got an opportunity to experience the semester system. When we left the college I heard they reverted back to the annual system. So when we had joined and the students came to know they would have to take an exam every second month, they were quite miffed about it. They tried to induce pressure on the administration for changing it back to annual but the decision had already been made and any change was out of question.

I had always taken annual (board) exams so naturally I took some time in adjusting to the new system besides till date I don’t exactly understand the GPA system. Yet I found it much better than the annual system. It keeps both the teachers and students busy and engaged.

What system do you prefer and why?