A GIFTED sixthformer is set to turn down a place at Oxford to study at one of America's top universities.

Awais Hussain will become one of the first people in his family to go to university when he starts at Harvard in September.

The Forest School pupil was offered a coveted place at both Oxford and Yale before opting instead to join the famous Boston-based university.

The talented teenager - who joined Forest's sixthform on a scholarship from Langdon School in Newham - said: "The move into the private sector, and particularly to Forest, has made the path much clearer.

"I've had so much well-informed guidance and support during my brief time at Forest, and seeing the Oxbridge successes from previous years made me realise that Oxford and similar universities should become a targets rather than just options.

"(However) I wouldn't want to turn down what I see as the best university in the world, but also the opportunity to study in America represents the opportunity of a lifetime."

Mark Spencer Ellis director of sixthform at the school, in College Place, Snaresbrook, said: "It's 16 years since a Forest pupil won a place at Harvard but Awais's success may be part of a growing trend as some of the cleverest students explore scholarship opportunities in America.

"To be offered a place at Oxford to read Physics and Philosophy is a superb achievement in itself but to add offers from two other world-class universities, Harvard and Yale, suggests that the Forest School Sixth Former is among the most able high-fliers in the English-speaking world."