A 12-year-old fencer has his eyes on the Olympics after being selected for the under-13 England squad.

Jacob Barr, a student at Aldwickbury School in Harpenden, began fencing in Year 3 with the Paul Davis Fencing Academy as an extra-curricular activity.

He is now ranked eight in his age group in the country and has been selected to compete as part of the U13 England sabre squad at Challenge Wratislavia, an international fencing tournament for children under 15 held in Wroclaw, Poland.

Jacob said: “I was really pleased to receive the news that I had been selected for the U13 England sabre squad. Fencing has helped with my fitness and enabled me to make new friends.”

Eddie Panting, director of sport at Aldwickbury School, said: “It is inspiring to see that Jacob has pursued his passion to a high level and it reaffirms our commitment to provide a broad and balanced sporting offering for the boys to give them the opportunity to participate a variety of activities and foster a love of physical activity.”

Head teacher Vernon Hales said: “Congratulations to Jacob. As a school we are really proud of him and wish him every success as he heads to Poland representing England.”