12-year-old girl to win Oxford place

A 12-year-old girl is a step away from becoming one of Britain's youngest university students. Sufiah Yusof, from Weston Favell, Northampton, needs to pass one more test in order to begin a mathematics degree at Oxford University.

She is emulating Ruth Lawrence, who at 13 became Britain's youngest graduate when she gained a First in mathematics at Oxford in 1985. And Sufiah could soon be joined by her sister Aisha, 14, and brothers Abbi, 15, and Iskander, 10. They also hope to win places at Oxford next year.

Sufiah has been offered a place at the all-female St Hilda's College providing she gets a grade A in a further mathematics A Level. She has now completed three parts of the examination and will sit the final paper in June. But she has already done so well that achieving a grade A should be a formality.

Sufiah achieved a grade A in mathematics last year. Her father Farooq, a research engineer, said the family was planning to move to Oxford to be near Sufiah. "Barring a disaster, she should get a grade A because she's done so well in the first three papers," he said.