QUIZ fan Ashton Davies is the talk of Wilmslow High School after winning a place in the semi-final of BBC quiz Mastermind.

Ashton, who has taught English at the school for 11 years, won his heat by a convincing six-point margin with his answers on general knowledge and specialist subject, singer songwriter Nick Drake.

His semi-final appearance has been recorded, but is not expected to be shown until April, and he is sworn to secrecy until then.

Ashton’s heat was shown on the BBC on Monday, and saw him gain 11 out of 12 points for questions on Nick Drake and 15 out of 18 in the general knowledge round.

There are six semi-finals, with the winners taking part in a six-person final.

Ashton said: “I’m very interested in quizzing, and play in the Macclesfield quiz league.

“I’ve been playing along with Mastermind for the last few years, and I thought ‘I’m as good as some of these players, so it’s time to have a go’.

“I’m also a big fan of Nick Drake, although I had to gen up for the specialist subject round.

“Everyone did very well in their specialist subjects, and I was the last one in the chair.

“I was quite confident that I knew my stuff, but you never know whether they’re going to ask you things you’ve missed in your revision.

“My general knowledge is pretty good, and the other contestants did OK but not brilliantly, so I needed 10 to win, and you normally get about 18 questions.

“The reaction from the kids at the school since my heat was shown on television has been fantastic, especially lower down the school – the year 7s and 8s have been so excited about it.

“Everyone at school wants to know how I got on in the semi-final, but I’m sworn to secrecy until it has been shown on TV.”

Ashton, a father of three, chose John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, as the specialist subject for his semi-final appearance.

His heat can be seen on bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000q5y5/mastermind-202021-episode-9