A BRADFORD teenager has been crowned the best computer programmer in the country after taking first prize in a national competition.

Bradford Grammar School student Alex Davies, 14, was invited along with 73 classmates to enter the TCS Oxford Computing Challenge after being in the top ten per cent of scores at the UK Bebras computational thinking challenge.

More that 5,300 students from across the UK took part in the competition, which challenges talented computational thinkers to develop their skills by solving tasks with programmed solutions.

Alex scored maximum points in the intermediate category, making him the best programmer in the country in his age group.

He said: “Entering the challenge was a great opportunity to challenge myself against other children from all over the country.

"Some of the questions seemed impossible so I was really surprised but very happy when I won."

Christine Harvey, head of computer science at Bradford Grammar, added: “This is fantastic news for Alex and well-deserved.

"To get through to the UK Bebras and TCS OCC finals shows he has an exceptional problem-solving ability and a very bright future. We couldn’t be more proud at BGS.”

Alex was presented with his award by television and radio presenter Spencer Kelly and K. Ananth Krishnan, vice-president of Tata Consultancy Services, which sponsored the competition.