Inspirational Ruth eyes codebreaking career

Budding codebreaker, Ruth Keddilty, a student at Durham High School, has successfully balanced her studies while supporting her family, alongside managing her own Type 1 diabetes.

Today, Ruth from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, saw her hard work pay off after collecting her A Level results – A* in Maths, A in Further Maths, and A in Computer Science.

It means the 18-year-old can now take up her place at York University to study for an MMath (Hons) in Computer Science and Mathematics and pursue her dream of working at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

Said Ruth: “I’m very happy with my results and have loved being at Durham High over the years. I’d love to work in the cryptography department at GCHQ one day so I’m pleased with the outcome today.”

For the past few years, Ruth, the eldest of six, has balanced supporting her family with focusing on her studies, taking part in maths and computer science competitions and still finding time to help younger pupils at Durham High’s three computing clubs and a maths club.

Mum, Alison, was first diagnosed with chiari malformation, where the lower part of the brain pushes into the spinal canal, when Ruth was nine after suffering from headaches, weaknesses down her left side and problems with her vision. She had an initial surgery and years later another operation to improve her condition, but she contracted bacterial meningitis after the second, which meant she was in hospital in Liverpool for seven weeks and had to have a third surgery to relieve the meningitis symptoms.

Said Alison: “I still have weaknesses in my legs and it has taken a lot of getting well. I now use a wheelchair when I go out and I’ve had to give up driving. My life has completely changed and we’ve had to adapt.

“Ruth has been amazing, helping out with her siblings at breakfast and getting them ready for bed, and sitting with me while I shower to make sure I’m safe.

“I’m absolutely over the moon for Ruth and her results. I couldn’t be happier for her. She’s worked incredibly hard for them and we’re so pleased.”

Ruth, who also helps out at St Anne’s Church in Bishop Auckland where her father, Matt, is the vicar, said: “I would do all my school work in the free periods in Sixth Form and there were several teachers who I could speak to about things. When mum was in hospital, my workload was reduced which was really helpful too.”

Ruth loves computer science and earlier this year completed a special programme to have some of her code run on an Astro Pi computer on the International Space Station (ISS).

She has also taken part in the National Cipher Challenge, a nationwide codebreaking competition, as well as the UKMT Maths Olympiad for Girls, where she got a merit, the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge where she received a gold award, and the Bebras Computational Thinking Competition, where she was named best in the county.

At school, she has embraced activities such as the school choir, orchestra, the annual theatre performance and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

“I’ve got quite a few friends from different years from being in different clubs and there’s a strong sense of community at school,” she said.

“All of the competitions I’ve competed in have really opened my eyes to careers in STEM, by showing me the diversity of the subjects I love, and how maths and computer science can link together.

“If it wasn't for my teachers, I wouldn’t have been given the confidence to pursue a career in STEM, so I give lots of credit to them.”

Michelle Hill, headmistress, at Durham High School, said: “Ruth is an outstanding young woman whose determination, compassion and intellectual brilliance have inspired our whole school community. She has faced challenges with extraordinary resilience while excelling academically, and we could not be prouder of all she has achieved. She is a wonderful, caring person who has found time to give back to our students as well as being such a solid support for her family. We wish her every success for her future career".