America-bound Toby is in another League!

Toby Milligan, 17, a student at Stratton Upper School in Biggleswade, will travel to the US in August after receiving an unconditional offer from the Ivy League university.

The youngster from Potton will major in maths and philosophy, politics and economics at the Philadelphia-based university – ranked the 13th best in the world.

Studying in the US has always been a dream for Toby, who will sit A-levels in maths, economics, history and German in the summer.

Toby has also been awarded a scholarship worth more than $200,000 to help pay for the four-year course after receiving help and support from education charity the Sutton Trust.

He said: “When I heard about the Sutton Trust’s summer school programme I knew straight away that it was something that I wanted to do.

“It meant I could spend a week in America last summer and I had the chance to visit Ivy League universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia.”

Toby has been accepted for a place at the one university he did not get a chance to visit – but he cannot wait to enrol there.

He added: “I managed to get a feel for the others when I visited but I have done a lot of research on Pennsylvania and it just feels right.

“They also have a global exchange programme, which means you can spend time studying at universities across the world. If I get the chance I would love to study in Beijing and learn Mandarin.”

Toby – who plays for Biggleswade Rugby Club and also runs his own Christmas pudding and stationary businesses – was pleased to get through a challenging application process.

He said: “The UCAS system here tends to focus mainly on the academic side but with the American universities they look at each applicant in terms of what they will bring to the university as a person.

“You sit tests, write essays and it’s quite demanding.”

Toby is especially grateful to staff at Stratton Upper who have supported him.

He added: “I would like to thank everyone who has helped and especially Miss Phillips who has been great.”

To watch a video of Toby and headteacher Rob Watson talking about the achievement see www.biggleswadetoday.co.uk