A 12-year-old who watches maths videos on YouTube rather than "looking at memes" has bagged two A* A-levels.

Whitstable youngster Toby Smith, who is in Year 8, joined Year 13 pupils as they collected their results at Barton Court Grammar School in Canterbury.

The boy genius is now encouraging others to "reinvest" their time in learning from educational videos online - instead of scrolling through funny viral images.

His proud parents say he enjoys devoting his time to studying as it is like a hobby to him.

Toby, who got the top grades in maths and further maths, admits he was was expecting good results, but added: "When you do an exam, you don’t think about what you got right, you think about what you got wrong."

He dedicates his time to learning outside of school and enjoys teaching himself - spending a "tiny bit" of each day studying.

"In the summer holidays, I watch a lot of YouTube," he said.

"I think my record of watching it is nine hours in one day.

"If you reinvest that time in something that is not memes, then you can do what other people can do."

He says his teachers were shocked at his results but have been very supportive.

"In Year 7, I joined the Year 13s who were quite nice and helped me a lot," he said.

"But then Covid hit, so I had to do a lot of self-study.

"When I got back, they provided me with the exams they had, so it gave me practice."

His dad, Mark Smith, says his son is "pretty much self-taught".

"Most of the information he has got is through YouTube and online, like Chinese tutors, so he isn’t just limited to A-levels," the 53-year-old said.

"What he has been studying is beyond that because he loves it. It is just a hobby to him.

"He is always on the go and he wouldn’t be one to sit around. Wereas a lot of kids suffered during the Covid period, it gave him the freedom to study what he wanted."

It has also been a successful day for Toby's two siblings - Jake and Luke. The former received an A* and three As, with the latter picking up an A*, two As and a B.

Meanwhile, Lauren Todd, 18, received received four-and-a-half A-levels - including three A*s - and has bagged a place at Cambridge.

"I was really confused because I didn't think I would get an A* in physics - I thought I had got the wrong results for a second," the Year 13 student said.

"I feel good [about going to Cambridge] because it still doesn't feel real and I'm really excited."

Max Strangleman-Sykes, 18, got two A*s and an A, and is heading to Bath to study.

"I'm very happy and glad to see all the work paid off," the 18-year-old said.

"I didn't get particularly marked down because of Covid and I hope everyone else across the country got what they deserve."

Macdara Drake was also happy with his grades and is off to Sheffield to study.

"I've done surprisingly well," the 18-year-old said.

"I got an A* in psychology which was probably my strongest subject, an A* in biology and an A in maths which was a shocker."

Head teacher Jonathan Hopkins says more than 75% of grades were between A* and B and there was a 100% pass rate at A*to E grades.

"Credit must also be given to staff who worked tirelessly during the pandemic to deliver lessons online and in the classroom to enable students to address gaps in their learning so they were supported and able to achieve," he said.

"In addition, the school benefited from an army of volunteers and helpers who implemented asymptomatic Covid-19 testing to help Barton Court always open up early after lockdowns to minimise the disruption to students to get them back into classrooms as quickly as possible.

"All this support from our wider community helped Year 13 to achieve so well.

"Particular recognition should be given to 34 students, out of our cohort of 116, who have been awarded three or more A*/Distinction* grades in their subjects.

"This is a tremendous achievement and these students rightly deserve additional recognition."

In general, lower grades were expected for this year's exam-takers but a school in Sittingbourne made a mockery of that prediction.

Highsted Grammar School's class of 2022 achieved record results.

Frances Tiernan-Powell, assistant head teacher, said: "Despite the challenges of the last two years, the students have shown tremendous determination and commitment to their studies with 80% of grades awarded at A*-B.

"Notably, in a moment of national grade deflation, students have strived to achieved the very top grades across a range of facilitating subjects, with over half of the cohort grades awarded as A*-A.

"Teachers have consistently identified the year group as exceptionally hardworking and independent in their desire to overcome gaps encountered during sustained periods of disruption with 20% of grades awarded an A*.

"As a year group, the students have focussed on working together as a community to overcome obstacles presented by isolation.

"It is fitting and just that this year group has secured the school’s record."

Thousands of teenagers across Kent are receiving their A-level results - as Ucas reports a 2% fall in the number of students accepted on to degree courses.

It is first year that students have had to sit proper exams since 2019 due to Covid.

In 2020, A-level students had their results downgraded from school estimates by a controversial algorithm, before Ofqual announced a U-turn.

Last year, no algorithm was used to moderate teachers’ grades and as a result saw a record high – with 44.8% of exam takers receiving A* or A grades.

This year it has been predicted that there could be 80,000 fewer A* and A grades compared to last year.

The lower grade average could potentially lead to increased competition in university places, it has been warned.

This morning Ucas revealed 425,830 students have taken up places at university so far, 2% down year-on-year.