I always tell my students that among the hundreds of students we work with, there are not that many who truly achieve an excellent result. And among those who do, only a very small number started without a solid foundation. Timur is exactly one of those who began almost from scratch.

He had never studied at an English school, he had not had subjects taught in English, he was not familiar with the British teaching system at all, and he had never lived in boarding. He was a student who lived an ordinary life in Ukraine and went to a regular school.

When I first met the family, Timur and his parents, I immediately felt a real warmth towards them. But I will be honest – based on my experience, I did not believe the goals he had set for himself were achievable. And his goals were far from average: he wanted to get into one of the most prestigious, highly ranked schools in the UK, the kind of place hundreds of students aim for.

We travelled together for entrance exams, talked a lot, and walked around the city – he really liked it there. Unfortunately, he did not get into that school. However, the second school on his top list, where he also wanted a place in Sixth Form to study A-levels, accepted him, but with conditions that I considered almost impossible – he needed a 9 in Mathematics. That is an incredible challenge. And the second challenge came when Timur joined a one-year IGCSE programme, which I consider unbelievably difficult even just to complete, let alone to excel in.

The first two months were disappointing, with grades around 3-5, and after the first term results we doubted even more. But then something happened that I was not prepared for – from those 3-6 grades he began to climb to 6s and 7s, in December he reached an 8, and the February half-term simply amazed me – outstanding effort and attitude.

His Maths teacher said that Timur is capable of reaching his goal and achieving that long-awaited 9. That is brilliant, especially considering that it is not just Mathematics, but Further Mathematics.

When I see progress like this, and the sheer work ethic with which Timur makes what is practically a quantum leap from his starting point, it inspires me. He has already been accepted by one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the UK, which saw extraordinary potential in him. I genuinely believe our student will go on to bring real credit to the boarding school he has joined.