A Kosovan refugee who could not speak a word of English on arrival in Britain three years ago has won a place to study medicine at one of the country's leading universities.

Perparim Shehu, now aged 17, will be going to University College London this autumn and hopes to become a doctor.

It was a different story when he arrived in this country at the age of 14 without his family. "For the first five or six months, I couldn't get into a school because they were all full," he said. "Then I had to get work translated into Albanian before I could do it." He has achieved a grade A in maths and C grades in physics and chemistry.

UCL had offered a place on condition that he obtained three C grades after university admissions officers realised his potential.

Perparim, who lives with two of his cousins in Haringey, north London, and obtained the A-levels at the College of North East London in Tottenham, admitted he had waited nervously for the results since June and said he would be indulging in a "rare" celebration last night.

"Our community do not go in for celebrations but it is nice to achieve something you set out to achieve."

He also admitted that he had relaxed after UCL had told him it would admit him with three C grades. "I was confident I could achieve that and so I did take some time off to watch the football World Cup earlier this summer."

Ilia Karmanov was celebrating yesterday after becoming the youngest person to pass an A-level in computing. Ilia was 10 years and 10 months old when he sat the examination in June at Ryde College, an independent tutorial centre in Watford, Hertfordshire, which has a reputation for steering youngsters through GCSE and A-level exams at a young age.

Mike Ryde, the college's managing director, said: "To achieve a pass at A-level at his age is a testament to his dedication and commitment. It also bears out our philosophy that given the opportunity, parental support and motivation children of all ages can attain exam success."

In Salford, a teenager was celebrating six A grades in her A-levels, achieved while working five nights a week in her parents' takeaway.

Wing-Sham Lee, a pupil at the independent Manchester High School for Girls, scored A grades in maths, further maths, biology, chemistry, art and Chinese. "I think when you don't have as much free time you study more instead of leaving your revision to the last minute," she said.

She is going to Cambridge University to study natural sciences. "I wasn't expecting to do so well," she added. "Those who criticise and say A-levels are getting easier are not the ones taking them."

Wing-Sham's school was one of only three in the country this year to achieve a 100 per cent A-level pass rate. The school is one of the top independent schools in Britain.