(UK) EAL STUDENT SCORES THE TOP IN THE WORLD IN IGCSE

Sixth Form student Michael was surprised and delighted to receive a very special certificate from Dr Truss this week. Michael, who joined Concord in Form 4 and sat his GSCE examinations last summer was awarded an Outstanding Learner Award by the examination board. His award was for gaining the highest mark in the world for Cambridge IGCSE English as a Second Language.

Michael who was at a local school in Beijing before coming to Concord really enjoyed his English studies “I have always enjoyed English as a subject, as it enables me to improve my level of English while exploring different perspectives that different people have.”

He was determined to secure a top grade and found the writing component of the exam the most challenging “Determined to improve, I closely followed Ms Correll’s guidance and analysed other students’ essays in my free time, which significantly enhanced my writing ability.”

Michael’s success, not only in EAL but across the curriculum at GCSE in which he achieved 10 grade 9s and a grade 8, has led him to the sixth form where he is studying Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Economics, and Physics, alongside an EPQ dissertation related to Economics. Looking to the future he hopes to study Economics at a top university here in the UK.

Ms Correll, Head of Lower School was Michael’s English teacher and commented on his hard work and success: “Michael is always a very diligent student in English and so it was no surprise when I heard that he had achieved the highest mark in the world in his IGCSE English as a Second Language.

“He did not always find the level of accuracy required easy, but he worked hard at improving this and increasing his range of vocabulary over the two year course. I am so proud of his achievement and that the EAL Department have achieved this exceptional feat for two years in a row!”