A LOCAL lad has made it to one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Jack Ganley, an 18-year-old bright spark from Carlisle, will be heading across the pond to study at Princeton University, an Ivy League university in New Jersey, USA.

Jack is still doing his A-Levels at the moment, and is studying physics, history, maths, and further maths, and is to study maths and physics at university later this summer.

He will complete his A-Levels on June 26, enjoying not even a month’s break before he flies to New Jersey on August 20.

An impressive achievement, his mother, Susan Ganley, described how it came about: “It was one of his teachers in school who told him about the Sutton Trust.”

The Sutton Trust is an educational charity which aims to improve social mobility and address educational disadvantages.

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Susan continued: “He lives in a council estate with me and goes to school in Nelson Thomlinson school in Wigton.

“When he first got in, I was telling my friend and they didn’t realise how prestigious it is.

“He applied and then we had to go to Newcastle to do the ACT tests.”

These, Susan explained, are entry exams for American colleges and universities.

Jack scored 36 on the test, which Susan said was a very high mark.

A prodigy, he got into Mensa from the age of 14, so while Susan was of course immensely proud of Jack, this latest success story of academic prowess was nothing new.

“We just told him ‘well done’,” she said.

“He was always good at maths, but I never thought he had the chance to go somewhere like that.”

Susan explained there was really not much need to push him to go for this, he was driven by self-determination: “We never really had to help him with homework or school.

“He’s never been one to wander about, he just comes home and does his work.

“He’s a hard worker, and I’m sure he’s the only one who will be looking forward to his exams.”

On where he got the passion for science, Susan thinks it was from his father who fixed computers for a living, and Jack would be with him while he was doing that.

Susan does not have an academic background, she explained, so Jack is certainly a natural when it comes to academia.

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