Ganesh Sittampalam

Ganesh Sittampalam (born 11 February 1979) is a British computer specialist and former record holder youngest person to pass an A-Level.[1][2][3]

Sittampalam was born on 11 February 1979 in Croydon.[4] He is the son of Arjuna Sittampalam, a Tamil, and Nela, a Sinhalese, originally from Sri Lanka.[5][6] He is the grandson of Ceylonese government minister C. Sittampalam.[7][8] He is from Surbiton.[9]

At the age of eight Sittampalam received an A grade in O-Level mathematics, becoming the youngest person to receive an A grade at O-Level.[9][10] A year later in June 1988, aged nine years and four months, he received an A grades in A-Level mathematics and further mathematics, becoming the youngest person to pass an A-level, which is typically taken at age 18.[9][11][12] Sittampalam received official recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records in April 1989.[12]

Sittampalam became Britain’s youngest university student when he joined the University of Surrey aged 11.[7][13] He studied for just one day a week at the university, spending the remaining four days continuing his education at King's College Junior School.[10][14] Sittampalam graduated from the University of Surrey in July 1992, aged 13 and four months, with a first-class bachelor's degree in mathematics.[5][10] He was Britain's youngest graduate for several hundred years.[5][10] He went on to receive a master's degree in computing and a doctorate in intentional programming from the University of Oxford in his 20s.[9]

Sittampalam works for Credit Suisse as a computer specialist and lives in Cambridgeshire.[7] He is married to Amanda and has a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Heather.[9][15]