ARK Burlington Danes Students Celebrate A Level Success

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Top results mean the sky's the limit for future aeronautical engineer Mohamed

Students and teachers at schools across Hammersmith & Fulham have gathered this morning to collect this year's A Level results.

At Ark Burlington Danes Academy in White City, maths results have been a highlight with nearly two thirds of students achieving A* or A Grades.

New Principal Paul Bhatia, who will officially take up the reins on 3 September, said: "Students at Burlington Danes have achieved an excellent set of results in their A levels this year. There has been a significant improvement in results, with students achieving a full one third of a grade higher in all of their subjects this year.

"Our tradition of exceptional A level maths teaching has continued, with nearly two thirds of students achieving A*
or A grades, placing Ark Burlington Danes’ maths results amongst the best in the country for students’ progress.

"A quarter of our cohort are heading to Russell Group universities."

Among those celebrating this morning was Mohamed Mohamed, 18, who is off America to study aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – on a full scholarship worth over £300,000.

Mohamed gained an A* in Maths plus A grades Further Maths, Physics and the EP, or Extended Project Qualification.

While being accepted to such a prestigious university on a full academic scholarship is noteworthy enough, Mohamed’s story is even more remarkable because just last year, he and his family were homeless for eight months.

"I decided that I wasn’t going to let my circumstances take anything away from me," said Mohamed. "My mum is from Somalia and my dad is Sudanese. They moved to the UK because they wanted to give me and my siblings the chance for a good education.

"Students who come from fancy neighbourhoods are used to seeing success all around them. But anyone can go to a good university – it’s an open invitation, with a pretty high price to pay – your time."

Mohamed is now one step closer to fulfilling his dream of landing his dream job as an aeronautical engineer at the European Space Agency.

August 16, 2018