Jonathan, 16, is one of the top young computer programmers in the country – and that’s official

The 16-year-old has become one of the top 15 competitors in the British Informatics Olympiad, which is open to students aged under 19 at secondary schools and sixth form colleges across the UK.

And now the Ripon Grammar School pupil will compete at Cambridge University for a top four place that would see him representing Britain at the International Informatics Olympiad.

To get to the final, he took a three-hour exam at school in which he had to write a computer programme to solve problems then answer theoretical questions.

ICT teacher Bob Walker then tested Jonathan’s programme and marked it before sending it off to be moderated.

"I'd almost forgotten I'd entered so it was a complete surprise to hear I'd got through to the final,” said Jonathan, whose father is the Bishop of Berwick.

“I actually thought I'd done badly in the exam and had no expectation from it at all, which made it an even bigger surprise," added the teenager who started computer programming aged 11 and now does it as a hobby.

However the good news was tinged with disappointment for Jonathan – as he will have to miss a much-anticipated school trip to Cern, the giant particle physics lab in Switzerland, which is taking place at the same time as the BIO final.

He will however be taking his A-levels in mathematics, further mathematics, physics and chemistry this summer, a year early after being allowed to skip a year of primary school.

And he also heard this month that he has the offer of a place to read mathematics and computer science at Oxford University in September.