A-level results: Straight A*s for Tottenham’s Greig City Academy pupil from Bulgaria

Mirela Ivanova celebrates her three A*s. Picture: Tony Gay.

by Tim Lamden Thursday, August 16, 2012
5:54 PM

A Bulgarian teenager who barely spoke a word of English when she arrived in Tottenham six years ago is preparing to study history at Oxford University after a stunning set of A-level results.

Kirk Bulgin (left) and Yousuf Serifi are both off to university in September. Picture: Tony Gay.

Mirela Ivanova, 18, of Tynemouth Road, South Tottenham, enrolled as a Year 8 pupil at Greig City Academy, in High Street, Hornsey, when she arrived in the UK in 2006.

This morning, she opened the envelope containing her A-level results to discover straight A*s in English literature, history and philosophy, securing her a place to study history at one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

She said: “I didn’t have a clue what Oxford was when I arrived from Bulgaria! I spoke a bit of English - I could sort of say my name but my vocabulary was really bad.

“I’ve been constantly reading, with a lot of dictionary work - I’ve struggled a lot with Shakespeare and Austen!

“It’s gradual progress but if you persevere you will get there.”

This year, Greig City celebrated a 2 per cent rise in A* to C grades achieved at A-level, with the school managing 70pc overall.

Yousuf Serifi, 18, of Turnpike Lane, Hornsey, will be swapping Greig City for the University of Leeds in September when he begins a degree in classics and history at the institution.

He walked away from the school earlier today with two A-levels, a B and C, in history and media studies and a BTEC in business studies.

Another BTEC student Kirk Bulgin, 18, of West Green Road, South Tottenham, leaves Greig City with a distinction in sport and a merit in business and is set to begin a sports coaching degree at the University of the West of England in September.

He said: “When I received my results and told my mum she was screaming down the phone so that kind of felt good to know that I’d made people proud.”

Jon Holt, head of sixth form at Greig City, said: “This is a great set of results for our sixth form. I am particularly pleased by the students who performed equally well in both the academic and vocational subjects.”