A Springwood High School pupil has reached the national finals of the Routes into Languages Spelling Bee.

Year 7 student Jacob Tivey, 12, beat 61,000 students from 496 schools across the country to reach the national German final.

He will compete to spell as many words as he can in just 60 seconds.

The spelling bee competition will take place at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

Tivey said: 'I'm a little nervous but proud that I've made the finals in Cambridge.

'I was the first person to put my hand up when I heard about the spelling bee and have had a lot of help from my mum in the evenings to make sure that I am ready for the final.'

His teacher Claire Hardy added: 'I am very proud that Jacob has made it to the final.

'He has put in a lot of work, and he has done himself very proud just to make the final after all the rounds he has had to go through.'

Tivey made the final after going through class, school and regional qualifiers.

The Year 7 student will have to spell such tricky words as naturwissenschafen (science), das radiergummi (the rubber) and schlittschuhlaufen (skating).

Sarah Schecter of Anglia Ruskin said: 'We're amazed at how the Spelling Bee continues to grow year on year.

'It gives Year 7 pupils the opportunity to really improve their language skills, while also having a lot of fun in the process.

'Studies have shown that being able to speak a foreign language has many other benefits, including improving memory, multi-tasking and decision making. Therefore the skills these youngsters have shown in reaching the final should prove useful in other subjects as well.'