At 99.6 per cent, ICSE topper and Bengaluru boy Ashwin can't stop smiling

Bengaluru: He's not just a topper in his own school or the state, but across the nation! Bengaluru boy Ashwin Rao from St Paul's English School, J.P Nagar topped the ICSE rank list in the country, securing 99.6 percent, sharing the honours with Muskan Abdulla Pathan of Hutchings High School, Pune.

"I'm ecstatic, but I wasn't expecting such high scores. My guess was in the range of 98%," he told Deccan Chronicle, of his 497 out of 500 score in the ICSE Xth grade.

"I scored the 'lowest', 98, in the two language subjects. It's probably because my interests always lay in mathematics and computer science." He scored 99 in mathematics and 100 in computer science. He has not yet decided what to pursue as a career, but definitely wants to get into computers. "I will take up the science stream and I will not let my interest for my favourite subject fade," he said.

He had three preparatory rounds and said by the time the examinations rolled in, he could recite his syllabus by heart. "I think I could have written the exam even without last-minute studies because I was thorough with my subjects. I am glad that my hard work has paid off," he said. He will continue his schooling at St Paul's. The topper dreams of getting into IIT after finishing school.