STUDENT Dan Attfield is no slow coach - in fact he's taking the Russian road to success.

Dan, a sixth-form student at Applemore College, Hythe, came in the top three in a national competition held recently in Birmingham for students of the Russian language.

He has added the bronze award to his A grade Russian AS-level taken this summer, when he scored an impressive 100 per cent in his spoken exam.

Dan, along with other Applemore students, has already visited Russia to try out his language skills, and is looking forward to chatting with 15 students from Moscow next month when they come to the New Forest on an exchange visit. Applemore is the only college in southern Hampshire to offer Russian at GCSE, AS and A-level.