Meet the youngest ever qualified computer specialist... he's six

Do you fancy yourself as a digital native?

Not compared to Ayan Qureshi you’re not. The six-year-old Coventry boy is the youngest computer specialist in the world – having passed a test to become a Microsoft Certified Professional when he was just five years old.

Quite the tech-savvy toddler...

Ayan’s father Asim, an IT consultant, supported the youngster from the start. From aged three, Ayan regularly played with his father’s old hard drives. “I found whatever I was telling him, the next day he’d remember everything I said, so I started to feed him more information,” Asim told the BBC.

How did the test go?

When Ayan arrived to take the exam, invigilators expressed concern over his age, but his father persuaded them he would be happy to do the test – usually taken by IT technicians – on his own.

“The hardest challenge was explaining the language of the test to a five-year-old. But he seemed to pick it up and has a very good memory,” said Asim.

How will Ayan use his talent?

He already has his own computer lab at home and spends around two hours a day learning. The budding entrepreneur says he hopes to start his own company and set up a UK-based tech hub called E-Valley. Silicon Valley better watch out…

His parents must be proud.

Ayan’s mother, Mamoona, who is training to be a GP, moved to Britain from Pakistan with her family in 2009. “I’m very happy and very proud,” she said, “I don’t want to see him set a world record every day. But I want him to do his best whatever he does in his life.”

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