An eleven-year-old Darlington schoolboy has been celebrating his biggest musical achievement yet as he receives a drumming qualification that has UCAS points equivalent to one GCSE.

Eleven-year-old Evan Littleton is on cloud nine after he achieved his grade six drumming qualification on May 26 from the Rock School.

The youngster, who has been playing the drums for five years, passed the GCSE equivalent exam with an impressive mark of 92% – five years before he will sit his actual examinations.

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The Northern Echo: Evan Littleton, from Darlington.Evan Littleton, from Darlington. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Following this monumental feat, Evan is moving up to achieve his grade 8 certificate that will be the same as one A-Level.

Evan’s dad, Paul, has expressed his joy at the news as he says he is proud of what his son has managed to accomplish at such a young age.

He said: “We were trying to find something interesting for him as he has quite a lot of energy.

“He’s done very well, it’s good to see him carrying it on.”

Paul, who is a rock music enthusiast, was surprised to see his youngest son take to the drums so quickly and challenge himself to achieve qualifications in music.

Paul added that it is “not very common” for kids the same age as Evan to reach grade six, and believes that it is “quite an accomplishment”.

Evan now has the bragging rights over his older brother who is currently sitting his GCSE exams – as he has achieved an equivalent before him.

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The Northern Echo: Evan sat at his drum set.Evan sat at his drum set. (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Evan’s teacher, Stuie Ellerton, who also lives in Darlington, has conducted thousands of exams across his career and has expressed his joy in seeing one of his students reach this incredible milestone.

He said: "For an eleven-year-old to get a distinction grade six is very, very rare.

"Those kinds of drummers are very few and far between. They have that natural ability to take as well as Evan has to an instrument."

He added: "For a young lad to maintain his rhythmic ability, his understanding of notation and his stylistic expression throughout a grade six - it's very much unheard of."