A 12-year-old who was denied a place at a state school won an Eton College scholarship after learning how to row.

The charity that introduced him to the sport is now aiming to get more working class children into Oxbridge.

Schuyler Audley-Williams, now 14, grew up on the White City Estate in Hammersmith and failed to get into any state secondary schools of his choice due to oversubscription.

After the council eventually offered him a place at a school that was deemed to be failing by Ofsted, his parents were then left little choice but to homeschool him.

It was during this time that his father, Harry Audley-Williams, took him to visit Fulham Reach Boat Club, a charity based in west London that was set up four years ago to challenge the “very elitist” perception of rowing by offering free lessons to local state school children.

Within one year of getting in one of their boats, Schuyler broke two under-12 British rowing records and secured a full sports scholarship to Eton College.