Vika’s family stood out straight away: Ukrainians who have lived in Hungary for many years, with English and Hungarian as the student’s native languages. That alone sounds unusual, but it wasn’t the only thing that impressed me. Vika decided to apply to the UK herself, found a boarding school that suited her, and went through the entire admissions process on her own. Her parents support her fully and trust her completely. And, honestly, with a child this independent and self-aware, it simply couldn’t not work out at school. But I never imagined just how well it would go.

Vika turned out to be exactly the kind of student who manages to achieve the very highest GCSE grades – all 9s and 8s. When we met in person, I was struck by her modesty and her absolute seriousness. For example, after an event we attended together, she said quite calmly that she would rather be doing revision right now, because everything they were talking about was already clear to her.

At the same time, Vika is not only an academic high-achiever. She is musical, takes part in the CCF programme, and seems to fit everything in. She is so well-rounded that you sometimes find yourself wondering how someone can be so composed at such a young age.

What surprises me most is her self-control. If Vika becomes unwell in boarding, she doesn’t complain or make a fuss – she copes calmly on her own and is very patient. This girl truly has a steel character.

I know very few adults with the kind of potential Vika has, and I am sure she has an extremely successful future ahead of her. We keep a close eye on her progress, we are proud of her, we support her, and we explain the academic side to her parents in detail so that Vika can flourish even more.

That’s the kind of star student we have.