UAE students celebrate their 'outstanding' A-level results

Dubai - GEMS Education students across all branches celebrated outstanding results.

A feeling of relief and overwhelming happiness took over thousands of students across the UAE as they celebrated their A-level results. A level stands for 'Advanced Level' qualification under the UK's General Certificate of Education that is offered by UK educational bodies to students worldwide who are completing secondary or pre-university education.

Exceeding expectations, GEMS Education students across all branches celebrated outstanding results with 33 per cent of its students achieving an A* or A grade. A particular highlight was Jumeirah College where of the 140 students sitting A Levels, 30 achieved all A* or A grades.

British national Kazal Oshodi topped JC with straight four A*s, the highest A level grade. He is the school's highest achiever this year, and possibly one of the highest in the UAE. Oshodi's score for Maths is in the top 50 in the world and the 18-year-old is all set to attend Cambridge University to study engineering.

He said: "It took a lot of hard work and revision, even over the past year - which really picked up in May and June when the actual exams came along. I will miss my friends at Jumeirah College and having fun while learning, as having fun is one of the best ways to learn."

Simon O'Connor, principal of Jumeirah College, said: 'Fundamental to our school is the understanding that all students have the potential to achieve the highest grades and these results demonstrate the same. The students have done wonderfully - far exceeding expectations that would be placed on them elsewhere. This reflects years of hard work from both the students and their teachers, who work tirelessly to support each individual."

It was also a proud moment for King's School Al Barsha as its first-ever cohort of A-levels came out with flying colours. All the 29 sixth form students managed to make successful applications to universities across the globe, with their results ensuring they were able to take up these places.

The toppers included Rhali Attar, who would be reading Mathematics at Warwick University; Millie McElroy who is gearing up to study law at Durham University.

Another high achiever at King's School, Jainisha Thadhani, who would be reading medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, said: "It was quite a journey with its ups and downs but our teachers were always their whether academically or emotionally. What really helped was that at King's we had a practical aspect to our text books and did things practically than just reading about them. That really helped me solidify my foundation in Year 12 before I took my exam in Year 13. Also, the school encouraged us to take up different extracurricular activities which helped us strengthen our application for university."

From Abu Dhabi, Brighton College Abu Dhabi pupils scored another year of record-breaking A-level results, with 40 per cent of all grades achieved this year being A*s or A grades. High-achieving pupils included Taysir Barakat with three A* and one A; Yoon Seo Kim with two A*s and three As; Annika McLachlan and Lewis Dean both with two A*s and one A.

The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) also announced a record A-level results for its sixth form students. The school said that this year its students achieved the highest ever percentage of A* and A grades in the school's 50-year history, with almost half of all grades (46 per cent) being either an A* or A.

The school saw a total of 316 A-level entries, possibly the highest number of A-level entries for a single British Curriculum school in Abu Dhabi this year.

High achiever of BSAK, Karishma D, said: "I am absolutely thrilled by my A-level results, which mean that I have secured a place at my university of choice, and will be studying biomedical science at Imperial College London. I would like to thank all my teachers and especially my math teacher, who has been there for me throughout the year and at times when I was unsure that I can get the score I needed. This is absolutely phenomenal."

saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai