A Bury schoolboy has gained a qualification for getting on a bus - despite not knowing he had taken the test.

Bobby McHale, aged 15, received a letter from an exam board recognising his ability to walk to the bus stop, wait for it to arrive and to board the vehicle.

It came from the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, the largest of the three English exam boards, and was titled Using Public Transport (Unit 1).

The teenager, who is a straight A student, was awarded the certificate after taking part in a Government-funded scheme run by Bury Council.

He said: "It just seems really silly to me. At first I thought I'd got some sort of GCSE early. When I read out the details to the family we all fell about laughing.

"The Bury Youth Scheme is excellent and we get the chance to a lot of different activities but I can't see the point of the certificate at all."

A spokesman for the exam board said the certificate is a formal recognition of students' success "outside of the normal qualifications framework."

"The scheme is used by approximately 1,000 centres throughout the United Kingdom to recognise student achievement across a wide range of subject areas and activities.

"It can be used with students of any ability and of any age. However, we would expect centres to ensure that candidates are entered for units that are appropriate to their needs and abilities."