Three girls from one of the most disadvantaged areas in London have achieved the A-level results needed to secure scholarships worth over £1million to some of the US’s most prestigious universities.
Harmanpreet Garcha, 18, Feyisara Adeyemi, 17, and Tasneen Hossain, 18, who attend Newham Collegiate Sixth Form (NCS), will swap Tower Hamlets, East Ham and Essex for Princeton and Harvard.
The trio all come from low income families which means the cost of their four-year education and accommodation, close to £350,000 each, will be funded entirely by the US universities.
Tasneen did not speak English when she arrived in the UK from Italy aged nine in 2014.
She turned down Cambridge to take up a place studying maths and physics at Harvard after scoring top grades in physics, maths, further maths and chemistry.
She said: “I’ve already been to America with the school so feel prepared for what will be a huge move.
“My family have played a major role in my success. These results are as much their success as they are mine. It’s a team effort.”
Harmanpreet, from Purfleet, Essex, will major in Engineering at Harvard after getting an A* in Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry.
She said: “I was so scared I didn’t even book the plane tickets and I’m due to leave next Wednesday. Now I can book my ticket and really get excited about this. It’s an incredible opportunity.”
Feyisara, from Poplar, will study computer science at Princeton.
She said: “ I can’t wait to get to America now. There will be some readjustment needed but I know I’m going to enjoy it.”
The trio won their places through NCS’s Ivy League programme.
While studying for their A Levels they sat the US subject specific and critical thinking and aptitude tests known as SATs.
The exams were paid for by their sixth form, which also flew over a specialist tutor from the US to help them prepare for entrance interviews.
So far the school, which is part of the City of London Academies Trust (CoLAT), has helped 11 students win over £4million in fees to the top American universities.
Headteacher Anita Lomax said: “I am so please for our students. They have put in the hard work and that effort has really paid off.“At the NCS we proud to offer the kinds of world class opportunities that are not available at other schools. Our latest cohort will serve as an inspiration to the next generation of students.”London on Thursday overtook the South-East as the best performing region in the country for A-level results.
The capital saw 31.3 per cent of students awarded an A* or A this year — up 1.3 percentage points on 2023. Some 30.8 per cent scored the top grades in the South-East — a rise of 0.5 percentage points.
