Initially applying in secret, Writhlington School student, Jamie Gould, was shocked to find out he will be appearing on television screens over the next ten weeks in a BBC show that will see him castrating a wild boar, removing a spleen from a dog and micro-chipping a racehorse.

Thirteen-year-old Jamie beat competition from over 1,600 entrants to win a place on Junior Vet, which follows six young animal enthusiasts as they train at Edinburgh University. Jamie's interest in animals was first sparked as a young boy, when he began helping to feed the chickens, ducks and geese on his family's smallholding.

Since then, he has raised dozens of different breeds of animals, from sheep and goats to hamsters, cats and dogs. The most recent additions to the menagerie are two rheas, hatched from eggs just five months ago to become giant, long-legged birds that can run at speeds of up to 40mph.

Jamie decided he wanted to showcase his skills on the CBBC show and filled out the application form without telling his parents.

His credentials impressed producers, who invited him to send in three film clips showing him working with his animals, which won him an audition in Leeds where he was selected from twenty young hopefuls to become one of the final six contestants.

He said: "I never thought they would pick me, but when I came home from school one day, my mum said, 'Go on Amazon and buy a kilt – you are going to Scotland.'"

The three-week long challenge will see the school children working alongside vets to gain hands-on

experience and a flavour of what a career in veterinary medicine entails.

Mum, Lyndsay, said: "It is an amazing opportunity. We are really proud of him for doing it all off his own bat, we didn't realise he had entered until he needed someone to hold a camera phone to film his clips. He has loved animals since he was born. We hope he does consider it as a future career – it would certainly save us a lot of money in vet's bills!"