A-level results: Swindon immigrant student off to Cambridge

When Oana Tudor's family first moved from Romania to Swindon in 2009, Oana didn't know a word of English but knew she wanted to work hard and succeed.

None of her immediate family had ever attended university, and she was signed up to school at Swindon Academy, a regular state school.

But having put in hours of hard work for her English Literature, History and Religious Philosophy and Ethics A-levels, Oana has now secured herself a place to study Law at the University of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College.

To achieve that, Oana not only had to sit through multiple rigorous exams, interviews, and an 'LNAT' examination but also achieved A-level results of A*AA.

Opening her results on Thursday morning, she said: "Getting my place confirmed by Cambridge feels surreal honestly, and I’m still partly at a loss for words.

"But this whole journey has taught me to have a little more faith in myself."

Oana Tudor came to Swindon not knowing how to speak English, and has now achieved an A in English Literature A-level. (Image: Swindon Academy)

Although the 18-year-old has worked her socks off to get to this point, she also credits a lot of this achievement to the support she gained from Zero Gravity, a free social mobility platform that aims to level the playing field helping low-opportunity students with their university applications.

“As I went to a low-opportunity state school, they weren’t able to support me too much with my university application," she explained.

"This is especially true for an Oxbridge application which is different to other universities, due to its interview and admissions process.

“But I was matched with a mentor through Zero Gravity, who was especially helpful in giving me exam tips for the LNAT exam."

Oana has achieved A*AA and will be going to study Law at Cambridge University. (Image: Swindon Academy)

She added: "Due to my low-opportunity background, I’ve been unable to make many professional connections, particularly in the legal sector.

"But now with the opportunities I can access at Cambridge, I’m hoping to pursue a career in criminal or medical law.”

Alongside studying Law at Cambridge University, Oana is now keen to become a mentor on Zero Gravity's platform herself to inspire and help other people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve more than is expected of them.

"Achieving a place at Cambridge, means so much," she added.

"It's the physical culmination of all my academic efforts so far, and I know my family are immensely proud.”