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Adams attended Primrose Hill Primary School in Brentwood. At the age of nine, he passed the entrance exam for [[Brentwood School (Essex)|Brentwood School]]. He attended the [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|prep school]] from 1959 to 1964, then the main school until December 1970. Adams was {{convert|6|ft|m}} tall by age 12, and stopped growing at {{convert|6|ft|5|in|m}}. His form master, Frank Halford, said that Adams's height had made him stand out and that he had been self-conscious about it.<ref name=Adams_7>{{Harvnb|Adams|2002|p=7}}</ref><ref>Botti, Nicholas. [http://douglasadams.eu/interview-with-frank-halford/ "Interview with Frank Halford"]. ''Life, DNA, and H2G2.'' 2009. Web. Retrieved 13 March 2012. (Click on link at bottom for facsimile page from ''Daily News'' article, 7 March 1998.)</ref> His ability to write stories made him well known in the school.<ref name=Simpson_9>{{Harvnb|Simpson|2003|p=9}}</ref> He became the only student ever to be awarded a ten out of ten by Halford for creative writing — something he remembered for the rest of his life, particularly when facing [[writer's block]].<ref name=Adams_xix />
Some of his earliest writing was published at the school, such as a report on its photography club in ''The Brentwoodian'' in 1962, or spoof reviews in the school magazine ''Broadsheet'', edited by [[Paul Neil Milne Johnstone]], who later became a character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide''. He also designed the cover of one issue of the ''Broadsheet'', and had a letter and short story published in ''[[Eagle (comic)|The Eagle]]'', the boys' comic, in 1965. A poem entitled "A Dissertation on the task of writing a poem on a candle and an account of some of the difficulties thereto pertaining" written by Adams in January 1970
On the strength of an essay on religious poetry that discussed [[the Beatles]] and [[William Blake]], he was awarded an [[Exhibition (scholarship)|Exhibition]] in English at [[St John's College, Cambridge]], going up in 1971. He wanted to join the [[Footlights]], an invitation-only student comedy club that has acted as a hothouse for comic talent. He was not elected immediately as he had hoped, and started to write and perform in revues with Will Adams (no relation) and Martin Smith
==Career==
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