Although at school he was known as “Einstein”，Hawking was not initially successful academically.With time，he began to show considerable talent for scientific subjects，and inspired by Tahta，decided to study mathematics at university.Hawking’s father advised him to study medicine，concerned that there were few jobs for mathematics graduates.He wanted Hawking to attend University College，Oxford，his own alma mater.As it was not possible to read mathematics there at the time，Hawking decided to study physics and chemistry.Despite his headmaster’s advice to wait till the next year，Hawking was awarded a scholarship after taking the examinations in March 1959.