Child Genius: Portsmouth prodigy makes it through to second round of Richard Osman’s Channel 4 show

Ishal Mahmud, 13, made it safely through to the second stage of the competition after successfully negotiating the round on English Language.

During the round, the 20 contestants were tested on their knowledge of spelling, grammar and awareness of historical dialect.

Whilst Ishal did not feature prominently in the the edited down first episode, she was not announced as one of the two children not to successfully make it through to the second stage of the competition.

Speaking before the show, Ishal said: ‘It was a lot of fun and wasn’t stressful. It was serious competition and the rivalry was fierce - everyone wanted to win. However it was also exciting to meet new people.’

With the second round of the competition focused on maths, it is a subject in which Ishal was confident of performing well in.

‘I really like maths and physics which are my best subjects,’ she explained.

If Ishal does prevail she will be hoping not get caught out later in the competition in the geography round - which she described as ‘not my strongest subject.’

Hosted by Richard Osman, the series will run every night this week with the final being screened on Saturday March 2.