AN INSPIRING teen who scored top marks in his GCSEs after watching Sherlock Holmes to learn English has received a national award.

Mobin Rahat, 16, could not speak English a year before he took his first exams George Mitchell School in Leyton.

But after moving from Bangladesh to England in 2014, he used the popular BBC drama to develop his language skills.

With help from a personal mentor at his former school he now speaks fluent English and even managed to get top grades in his GCSEs this summer - including two A*.

His remarkable efforts were rewarded when he was shortlisted for the Outstanding Progress award at the Partners in Excellence (Pixl), at a ceremony held in London on Wednesday (SEPT 30).

Mobin, 16, from Leyton, said: "I love Sherlock Holmes. To me that is what England is all about.

"I used to watch it when I was at home in Bangladesh but I never really understood what was being said.

"When I came here and I could watch it on television it really helped. I used to watch it all the time and pick up words and phrases.

"I am quite analytical and so is Sherlock so that really appealed to me."

He added: "I don't want to sound big-headed but if you really put your mind to it learning English quite easy.

"With all the support I got from my school and watching Sherlock Holmes all the time you could say it was Elementary."

Mobin is now studying Chemistry, Biology, Philsopy and Computer Science at A Level and plans to study medicine at university.

He also acknowledged the role teachers at George Mitchell school played in learning English and his exam success.

He added: "At George Mitchell the support is very personalised. I had my own mentor who would work with me every break time with my English and my GCSE revision.

"They really believe in you here and that gives you amazing confidence to go on and do more. My only real aim when I first got here was to learn English. I never dreamed I would do so well in my exams.

George Mitchell headteacher Saeed Hussain said: "There is no better example of the schools' motto More in Me than Mobin.

"He thought that the best he could do in such a short space of time at school is learn English. That would have been a remarkable achievement in just a year but we saw more in him.

"We knew he was capable of more and that is why we supported and mentored him to achieve his full potential."