Four students from Cardiff Sixth Form College have sent up HighWell Education – a free university admissions preparation service to help students applying to university during the COVID19 crisis.

Elis Golding, Ahmed Ibrahim, Buraq Ahmed and Ahmad El-Shaboury, who are all currently holding offers to study Medicine and Law at top G5 universities, were concerned that due to the closure of schools during the Coronavirus pandemic there appears to be little preparation being undertaken for further education for student locally. 

Said Elis, who has a place to study law at Cambridge: “Before Cardiff Sixth Form College all four of us attended local state schools and one of the main sectors that has taken a blow during this crisis has been the education sector. A Level students are at a key stage of their lives yet they are unable to receive the necessary support due to the lockdown. To try and overcome this problem, we decided to set up a free online university admissions preparation service, to aid students in all aspects of the UCAS application process and after two days have over 50 students. Furthermore, given the increased amount of spare time that students have on their hands at the moment, now is a great time to get ahead with preparing applications.”

The HighWell team are helping students with all aspects of the application process: personal statements, entrance exam preparation and mock interviews. Having just completed the process themselves, Elis, Buraq, Ahmed and Ahmad are well aware of the struggles many students go through when preparing their university applications. This, combined with the added stresses brought by the lockdown, has made the whole process for some pupils even more strenuous.

Added Buraq, who has an offer to study Medicine at Cambridge: “We hope, that by guiding students on a one-to-one basis, we can help overcome these hurdles and help as many pupils as possible get into their dream universities. We have all been lucky enough to attain offers from some of the best universities in the UK, and indeed the world, but this was not without the help of many other people along the way. We want to ensure other students get exactly the same support that we did and give back to the community that has helped us achieve our ambitions.”

Said Tom Arrand, Head of Cardiff Sixth Form College: “I am so impressed that our students have wanted to give up their time to help other students and offer their experience to help others affected by school closures.  The empathy and understanding that these four have shown really marks them out as top candidates – something that has obviously been recognised by the universities.  Here at Cardiff Sixth Form College we are actively encouraging all our pupils to use their talents and abilities to help others at this time.  Our students are currently fundraising and supporting Medic Mentors which supports frontline medical professionals who are suffering physical, psychological and financial loss due to the coronavirus pandemic and UNICEF in helping promote their Coronavirus Global Response whilst other of our students are providing a free tutoring service for primary school students locally and are currently tutoring over 300 students.  I am so proud of our students and the compassionate people they have become.”