A teenager who made the step into mainstream education after being home-schooled for more than a decade has aced her GCSEs at Loughborough College.
Zahra Jamal, 17, from Leicester, achieved a grade 7 in GCSE English and a grade 6 in GCSE Maths and now has her sights firmly set on A levels and a career in environmental science.
“I’m so happy with my results, I’m going to celebrate,” said Zahra.
“It’s been quite a stressful journey with my maths GCSE because I was put in the higher maths group, so getting that grade is amazing. My English grade isn’t quite what I wanted, but I'm not going to let it set me back and I am now aiming to beat that grade next year.”
Zahra’s educational journey has been a path less travelled having been home educated since the age of four by her mum, and later by home tutors.
She said: “My mum had done some primary level teaching and the schools weren’t great in the area I lived in. She originally planned to teach my early years, but it was so successful that she carried on. There was also a great home education community which supported us.”
Zahra said she was initially worried that a mainstream classroom would restrict her pace and way of learning, elements of home education she loved, but tutors very quickly put her mind at ease.
“Space was made for me to express myself and work at my own pace. I’ve had some brilliant tutors,” she said.
“During home education I had some amazing tutors who you could make really good connections. I worried that the college lecturers wouldn’t offer me that, but they really did. They were so supportive and created connections.
“There was fantastic academic and one-to-one support from my tutors and the college in general. It’s wonderful, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Zahra said her experience has justified her trust in the college’s ethos which initially attracted her to Loughborough instead of colleges nearer to home.
She said: “I could see they had the student union and well-being support in place and could clearly see their immediate focus was students. It was so positive.
“The college also offers an A Level in Environmental Science which is what I want to pursue and eventually want to become an environmental lawyer. I think Loughborough College has given me the perfect foundation to achieve that.”
Zahra is staying on at Loughborough College to student A Levels in Environmental Science, English Language and History.
“I’d definitely advise people to look at Loughborough College. It’s a great college,” Zahra said.
“Not only have they supported me in my studies, but they’ve also encouraged my personal creative writing and song-writing work. I, personally, think this is a really important part of any student's journey and I was so pleased to see that support my individual creativity within the college.”