MADDIE Exley, nine, from Wilmslow Preparatory School won a top award from English Speaking Board (International) Ltd.

Maddie is one of 10 students around the country to receive ESB’s highest commendation of Young Speaker of the Year.

Each year the awards recognise the outstanding spoken language skills of the very best that assessors see from candidates who are sitting ESB communication assessments.

The 10 winners were selected from 12,000 youngsters who took ESB speech assessments in 2018/19.

When Maddie took her ESB assessment she wowed her audience with her expert knowledge of buzzards and her assessor loved hearing that it was a shared passion with her Nana.

Maddie was presented with her trophy and certificate at an awards ceremony in the Princess Royal Suite at the Aintree Racecourse.

She said: “This has been a really special day for me and my family, and I really enjoyed reading my poem.”

ESB’s chief executive, Tina Renshaw, said: “The standard from all candidates put forward for this accolade was very high, so Maddie did extremely well to be selected as an overall winner.

“Communication skills are at the heart of successful lives and careers and these youngsters demonstrated exceptional abilities to communicate their ideas clearly and confidently.”