A schoolboy is on target to graduate from CedarBridge Academy this summer two years ahead of schedule.

Kace Wales, 15, has also come top of five Bermudian candidates accepted to study for the International Baccalaureate diploma through the United World Colleges network.

He said: “I was really shocked when I found out I’d been accepted by UWC.

“It made me feel like I could do anything that I put my mind to.”

Kace, from Southampton, said that the UWC programme would help him meet people from around the world and experience different cultures.

He explained: “It’s a two-year programme and it’s about diversity. They bring people from all around the world and they do their International Baccalaureate programme.

“Most people get the opportunity to travel to different places while they’re there, so it’s all about travelling and learning about different cultures,” Kace said.

“I would get a university credit from completing the course, so then I would just go straight to university.”

He applied for the London-based United World Colleges scheme as a chance for a gap year before university.

The requirements were tougher than he at first thought.

He explained: “They want a person that’s well-rounded — someone who’s high on academics, does a lot of volunteering and extracurricular activities.

“But I assumed that I had all of those, because I do photography, videography, bowling, I volunteer at Lorraine Rest Home and I do a lot of hosting for my school events.”

Kace said that his drive to finish what he started kept him going through the UWC application process.

He said: “At the start of S4, I said ‘I want to make Principal’s List for my first term’, so I pushed and pushed and I kept going and I made it on to the Principal’s List.

“Anything that I put my mind to I will push, especially if I really want it. I will just keep going until I get that achievement.”

United World Colleges is made up of 17 schools across four continents and was designed to give young people aged 16 to 19 a chance to study abroad.

Kace said that his status as a top applicant gave him priority enrolment to any of the scheme’s member schools.

He has yet to make a choice, but feels the experience will be more important than the location he picks.

Kace said: “The whole experience isn’t about which country you go to, but it’s about the UWC experience that each school brings you.

“I’m just hoping to have a great time, pick up a new language, stay good at my academics, and just bring a piece of Bermuda to the UWC experience.”

UPDATE: This story was amended to correct the name to Kace Wales