CITY councillor Daniel Paskins is taking a break from council agendas -- to sit the final exams for his Oxford University history degree.

Mr Paskins, who won a Labour seat in the new Lye Valley ward on May 2, sits the first of six three-hour exam papers today in modern history.

The 21-year-old, who is an undergraduate at Magdalen College, is hoping that campaigning to win a council seat has not spoiled his chances of getting a good degree.

He said: "I have tried not to let becoming a city councillor get in the way of my revision. I've been interested in politics for a long time and I am very much looking forward to representing the people who live in my ward.

"Unfortunately, I will have to miss a couple of meetings because my finals clash with them, but I have sent my apologies."

New Labour councillors Rick Muir and Ed Turner are also students. They are both postgraduates at Oxford University's Nuffield College.