A Bermondsey-based GCSE student with a raft of top grades has particular cause to celebrate this week.
Ark Globe Academy pupil Sara Sasvari’s phenomenal results are all the more impressive given she only started speaking English five years ago after moving to the UK from Hungary, has struggled with a disease that affects her sight.
On Results Day she found out she had been awarded eight Grade 9s, an 8 and a 7 – and she says she hopes the grades can help her become a theoretical physicist in future.
Across the board the Elephant and Castle school says its GCSE students are outperforming national averages; achieving about half a grade higher than candidates across the country.
On finding out her brilliant achievement, Sara said: “My success was mostly down to reading over my notes and making flash cards.
“I came to the UK in 2014, in Year Seven, didn’t speak English at all.
“I am really proud of myself for getting 9 in English and English Literature.
“My biggest challenge was that I have Stargardt disease which effects my sight.
“I worked on accepting the fact that I had this condition and I didn’t want it to be an excuse for not to do well.
“I love art and it was very relaxing for me to do art during this time.
“My family is very happy for me. My sister is going to the University of Glasgow, she went to Sixth Form at Globe. So it is overall a happy time for us.
“My teachers were really helpful. The school helped me, especially about my condition and found a counsellor for me.
“I don’t feel that this condition I have will ever stop me working hard and doing well.”
Also delighted with their results were twins Deborah and Kehinde Sowole, who spurred each other on to succeed.
The identical sisters, who moved to Peckham from Nigeria in 2011, now have two 8s, eight 7s, and seven 6s between them.
Kehinde says she hopes to become an entrepreneur or paediatrician in future, and Deborah has her sights set on becoming an engineer.
“We studied together for the exams; we tested each other, challenged each other.
“It was really helpful while taking the exams, but waiting for the results was stressful because we were waiting for two sets of results.
“What if one of us didn’t to do that well?
“We would have been upset then; we couldn’t celebrate.
“We are happy now; although we didn’t get the exact same results, they are balanced.
“We don’t plan to separate until the end of university because we will go to different career paths, but we will definitely go to the same university.”