Pupils from All Saints’ RC School in York have received certificates and awards for entering the Linguistics Olympiad, an international competition to test their ability to decipher complex language puzzles.

Richard Hudson, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University College of London, congratulated them on being “trendsetters” in tackling a purely intellectual challenge so successfully.

Spanish teacher Mary Piper said: “This is an outstanding achievement by All Saints’ pupils. The Linguistics Olympiad tested their powers of analysis and linguistic awareness.

“As a language college, we are proud of the success of our language students, many of whom are studying three languages.”