A 52-YEAR-OLD mum who left school at 15 is on top of the world after gaining the highest marks in a global marketing exam.

Pat Wells, a student at Mid Kent College in Chatham, came first out of 18,874 candidates sitting the exam worldwide with more than 90 per cent.

It is the first time that a marketing student at the college has done so well.

College chiefs were so pleased they laid on a special presentation ceremony for her at the Horsted campus. John Levitt, principal, gave her a special plaque to mark the achievement.

And next month, she goes to a Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) graduation ceremony at London's Barbican Centre.

Mr Levitt said it was a wonderful achievement and underlined the college's increasing strength in preparing people for the world of business.

Not that Mrs Wells is new to that world. For the past 11 years, she has been marketing services manager at Marley Floors in Lenham.

Terry Bevis, a college lecturer and treasurer of the CIM Kent Branch, said Mrs Wells was special.

"What marked her out was her willingness to lead groups and to support other members in the class," he said. "Overall she was a very good student in terms of attendance and performance and her helpful nature made her popular in the class."

Mrs Wells recalled her reaction when she opened the letter that told her how she had done.

"It's unbelievable, I had to read the letter three times," she said.

She paid tribute to her husband and 21-year old son who had supported her throughout the course. She estimated she had spent 180 hours at college and many more on homework.

She added: "Although I've built up a lot of marketing experience through my work, I had no official professional qualifications to prove that I could actually do it."

Mrs Wells passed the four three-hour examinations that make up the CIM Post Graduate Diploma. She gained two distinctions, a credit and a pass.

She topped the world for the module devoted to "Integrated Marketing Communications”.

Mrs Wells summed this up as "singing from the same hymn sheet" through common goals, messages, design and performance both within and outside the organisation.

She now aims to go on to become a chartered marketer.