'It was all easy' – teenage genius takes 23 A-levels in a single year

Plenty of uppity Oxbridge undergraduates like to boast about their academic records but none can match that of one particular new student.

Ali Moeen Nawazish, a charming 18-year-old from Pakistan with delicately accented English, is in the first year of his degree in computer science at the University of Cambridge.

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To get there he undertook 23 A-levels in a single year, shattering the previous world record of a mere 13.

And his massive workload did not mean Mr Nawazish could barely scrape through his 24 chosen subjects. He received A grades in physics, biology, human biology, mathematics, pure mathematics, further mathematics, computing, marine sciences, applied information and communication technology, thinking skills, Urdu language, Urdu literature, general paper (international), geography, applied geography, sociology, psychology, business studies, travel and tourism, and critical thinking. He also secured A grades in two AS-levels, general studies and English language, which equal one A-level.

He did however suffer the indignity of obtaining only a B in chemistry and a C in general further mathematics.

"I feel bad about those two," he said. "Then again, I was feeling a bit tired when I took them. I'd been up since 8am and I think I finished that maths exam at 1am the next morning."

Mr Nawazish, who attended Roots High School in Rawalpindi, sat his first exams in June 2007, took three more in November 2007, and completed the rest in June last year. He would regularly work 10 hours a day, and only started revising for some of the exams three days in advance. "Most kids at my school did five or six, but I started off with seven," said Mr Nawazish, whose teachers advised against doing too many. "But I just wanted to see how far I could take it. So I moved on to 10, then 14, knowing that broke the record, then 16. Then I just thought 'Why don't I do a few more?' and I ended on 23. It was all easy, except for chemistry – that wasn't so fun."

Just two years ago, he was still considered an average student. "But then my computing O-level came back and it was a world record mark. Suddenly I thought should aim higher." Mr Nawazish, who speaks English, Urdu and Punjabi, describes himself as "a balanced rather than devout Muslim". His sister, Hisha Mehwish, 23; mother Nisar Malik, 48, and father Zaka Ullah, 51, are all doctors in Rawalpindi.

He says he has settled well into undergraduate life at Trinity Hall College, Cambridge. "I don't drink but that doesn't stop me going to cocktail parties," he said. "I'm also quite fond of going to the college bop or house parties or Cindy's [a local club]."

Academics were dumbfounded by his application. "When we first interviewed him we thought 'This can't be right'," said Dr Nick Bampos, senior tutor at Trinity Hall. "But not only is he really bright, he is really charming. He might be a computer scientist but he shatters all the stereotypes."

The demands of computer science require him to be in the laboratory by 9am every day, and he rarely leaves before 5pm. "That still feels pretty light compared to what I was doing before," he said. "I'm planning to do CompSci for three years and then train in medicine for four."

In what remains of his spare time, Mr Nawazish is setting up a website – itorch.com – through which he hopes to provide learning aids for children struggling with schoolwork. "People have been very supportive of me, and I wanted to give something back," he said. "It's not like I go around talking about my record, or sticking it in people's faces. It just got out somehow. The last thing I'd want is for people to be intimidated. I mean, look at me."