Yacouba Traore has proven himself a bright spark when it comes to IT. The 21-year-old from Billingham is off to study Computer Networking at Teesside University after achieving the highest possible grades on his course at Stockton Riverside College.

Yacouba picked up a triple distinction star on the BTEC Extended Diploma in IT. He has come a long way since starting at the college four years ago on an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course, having moved to the UK from the Ivory Coast.

Hoping one day to work in IT for a large organisation he said: “I am really very proud of what I have achieved so far. I have enjoyed every single moment of my time at the college.”