THE UK may be heading for Brexit but Inverclyde schoolkids showed continental class by making it through to the national final of a quiz competition.

Quick-thinking pupils from Inverkip Primary won the local heat of Euroquiz - a Scotland-wide competition to test children on their knowledge of Europe.

Teams from seven schools across the area gathered at Whinhill Primary School to answer questions based on European history, geography, languages and general knowledge.

After a nail-biting tie break situation, it was the tenacious team from Inverkip who triumphed.

The four-strong team of pupils - John-Nicolai Hunt, Olivia Brydon, Kieron Hopkin and Cowal McCready - were thrilled to win.

Olivia, who was the captain, said: "We have been practising at every break and every lunch time, every single day.

"I feel so happy as we didn't expect to win.

"Cowal helped us to win on the last question as he knew that Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro.

"If it wasn't for Cowal we wouldn't have won."

Alasdair MacPhee, a Gaelic teacher at Whinhill Primary who organised the quiz, was very impressed by the children's knowledge about Europe.

He said: "I'm really impressed by the calibre of their knowledge.

"There's lots of history and it's good that they are aware of other places and other cultures and languages.

"The pupils were particularly good at the language round, which covered Spanish, Italian, German and French.

"They all did really well."

Rev Owen Derrick from the Lyle Kirk was in the audience and praised the pupils too.

He said: "It was great to see that they took it so seriously.

"The depth and breadth of their knowledge was quite remarkable."

Also in attendance were Stuart McMillan the local MSP and Inverclyde Provost Martin Brennan.

Mr McMillan said: "You could tell that the school pupils all worked very hard, and the work that the teachers put in has been exceptional."

The pupils from Whinhill Primary School were second in the contest and the team from Inverkip now go on to represent Inverclyde at the grand final at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in May.