10 Year-Old as University Undergraduate

Local Editor

Esther Okade, from Walsall, was the youngest Open University student to study a math's degree.

She's a big fan of Disney's animations, and loves playing with her dolls; But Esther Okade was also a university undergraduate after starting a degree at the age of ten.

Esther, one of the UK's youngest university students, was studying for a math degree with the Open University.

She enrolled three weeks ago and was already top of the class, scoring 100 per cent on a recent test.

Esther, from Walsall, in the West Midlands, isn't the only member of her family with a talent for numbers - her six-year-old brother Isaiah was already taking an A-level in math.

Her mother, Efe, said applying to the university was "an interesting process because of her age." She added, "We even had to talk to the Vice Chancellor... After they interviewed her they realized that this has been her idea from the beginning. From the age of seven Esther has wanted to go to university. But I was afraid it was too soon."

Esther applied in August, and after a phone interview, an essay and a math exam, she finally got the news in December that she had been accepted onto the course.
Eshter was not the youngest child ever to be enrolled on a university course.

In 1981 Ruth Lawrence, from Brighton, passed the Oxford exam at 10 years old. She graduated in 1985 at the age of 13 with a first class degree in Mathematics.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team