Alex Batty says he educated himself by ‘reading Harry Potter 20 times’ during six years without school

23 December 2023, 09:51 | Updated: 23 December 2023, 09:58

Alex Batty has revealed that he used the Harry Potter books as a way of educating himself after not attending school for six years.

Alex, 17, returned to the UK last week, six years after he went missing while on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather, and is living with his grandmother, Susan Caruana.

Alex, who wants to study computer science, cyber security or blockchain development, has revealed how he educated himself without attending school for the last six years.

He told The Sun: “I haven’t had a formal education in the past six years, and the little education that I did have was mostly reading many different types of books and self-teaching.

“I used to read Harry Potter, gosh, I’ve probably read it about 20 times in complete order”.

Alex said his only qualifications are his SATs from when he was younger, so he wants to attend a college to get his “education up” after such a long break.

Read more: Police launch 'kidnap' investigation after teen Alex Batty returned home to the UK six years after he went missing

Read more: Alex Batty reveals he made up four day mountain trek to throw police off the scent of his mother and grandfather

It also recently emerged that Alex had fabricated the story of his return, as it was widely reported that Alex had trekked for four days through the mountains, after he told the story to a delivery driver.

But he has claimed that he made up the Pyrenees hike to cover for his mother and grandfather, so that the police would have a harder time tracking them down.

It comes after the police confirmed on Friday that they had launched a criminal probe into the alleged abduction of Alex.

He disappeared aged 11 while with his mother Melanie - who uses the name Rose and his grandfather, David, six years ago.

His mother was thought to be trying to pursue a "spiritual" way of life and distrusted the government and vaccines, remarking how people were "becoming a slave to the system".

Alex re-emerged in the Pyrenees in southern France and has returned to the UK to be with his grandmother.