In 2022, Anna fled the war in Ukraine. Today, she has won a place at one of the top universities in the world, the University of Cambridge, to study Natural Sciences with an incredible four A-levels, all at A* and all in her second language. Anna threw herself into life at the College, being part of the award-winning chamber choir and part of the dance show team, all the while helping to keep the war in the forefront of everyone’s minds.
Fleeing Kyiv at the start of the conflict, Anna spent days travelling with her family, ending up in Italy where she emailed schools at the top of the UK school rankings, of which Brighton College was the first to reply.
Reflecting on her time in England, Anna said: “I’ve really valued the opportunity to be at Brighton College. It is a gift to be free, to be safe, and to have a future. I feel safe now, I have good friends and a warm home. And it breaks my heart that my friends from Ukraine don’t get to experience this and instead have to study in shelters. My hope now is hope for the future and hope for peace.”
The Principal of Brighton College, Richard Cairns, commented: “So many Ukrainian youngsters have had their whole lives entirely upended by this terrible war, and the story of Anna gives a glimmer of hope for the future. I am so proud of this remarkable young woman and am just glad that we were able to help her a little along the way. I am convinced that one day she will return to help rebuild her country”.
As pupils across the country receive their A-level results this morning, Brighton College pupils have achieved record-breaking results, with a phenomenal 99.3% A*-B, thought to be the highest results of any school. An incredible 85.2% of results were A*-A and almost half were A*.