One of the highest grades ever achieved on the Advanced Level Foundation
Elion, from Albania, has just completed the Advanced Level Foundation, and will soon be heading to his first-choice university, Sheffield, to study Mechatronic and Robotic Engineering.
His outstanding grade of 95% is one of the highest ever achieved by a student on the Foundation course, and is the highest of the current 2021 cohort.
Commenting on this fantastic achievement, Foundation Course Director Adam Potterton said:
"I have had the pleasure of reading some of your work – in assignments and also your progress tests. Your written work is exceptionally well structured and expressed. Your use of written English is virtually flawless and you clearly have excellent sensibilities in the subjects you have chosen. The sciences are not easy subjects and to excel at them in your second language is something you should be very proud of.
All of your teachers at Kings Oxford have commented on your excellence, intellectual curiosity, and how you have conscientiously gone about your work. You will be a great asset to your chosen university and I am sure you will excel in your chosen engineering discipline."
We recently caught up with Elion to hear his own thoughts on achieving such an excellent grade, and to hear more about his experience at Kings and his plans for future study.
Hi Elion. How was your experience at Kings?
I’m really thankful for the experience I had. At first, because of Covid and online lessons I thought it would be hard, but throughout the course I had constant support from the teachers and everyone there. It was quite demanding, everyone who wants to have high grades needs to work and lessons are not easy, but you learn a lot. Teachers were there all the time, and I found the lessons entertaining – even though I had to do them, they were obligatory, overall I enjoyed it.
Even though I had some background in the sciences, I still had some gaps to fill, so it was very important.
"Online lessons were very similar to what we did in class, because they were well prepared, but still face-to-face learning is different."
What did you think of Oxford as a city to live and study in?
Oxford is kind of an old city, they try to maintain that kind of old-fashioned feel. It was very hospitable, people were smiley and welcoming. They were kind and I found everything (I needed) there. You find people from all over the world, which is a really good thing I think.
How did you feel when you got your result?
I was with my family, we were working at our house as it is a very busy time (this is the peak tourist time and our business is related to tourism), but when I got the results we were almost not breathing! When I said 95% we all thought it was incredible and were so happy! It was fantastic, I still can’t believe that I did it.
What’s next for you now?
"I’m really looking forward to the new city I’m going to, preparing for the new experience and looking forward to the new people I will get to know and the new skills I will get at university."
I’m also trying to get prepared for the new accent! I’m going to Sheffield University, in the north of England. I’m going to study Mechatronic and Robotic Engineering. It’s a high-ranking university and is part of the Russell Group. The department of engineering is outstanding; it's brand new, and I liked it very much.
