Youngsters scale musical heights

Musical pupils at a Black Country primary school have become the youngest in the country to pass a GCSE-standard exam – aged just 10.

All 60 children in the two Year Six classes at Barcroft Primary in Willenhall secured a "remarkable" distinction in the prestigious London School of Music Ensemble Level Two qualification.

Performing on instruments including steel pans, keyboards, glockenspiels and drums, the pupils blew examiners away with flawless versions of pop classics.

Charlotte Taylor-Holden, aged 10, played drums and said she now had ambitions to join a group like her favourites, Kings of Leon.

"I would have been too scared to play on my own, but it was great to do it all together," she said.

Ajay Baines, 10, played keyboards. He said: "I was a bit nervous, but we really feel like we've achieved something special now."

The children will perform at Forest Arts Centre, in Hawbush Road, Leamore, from 7pm next Thursday.