Christ College Brecon is celebrating after receiving offers to study at Oxford University for two of its students. Faye Fallon has received an offer to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Brasenose College while Sam Kang received an offer to read Physics for a four-year Masters course at Corpus Christi College.
Competition for the coveted places is strong with over seven applications received for each available place in 2019. As long as they meet the conditions of their offer, Faye and Sam will join 3,300 undergraduates from across the globe starting their university life at Oxford this September.
Set within the Brecon Beacons National Park, Christ College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school, with over 350 pupils between the ages of seven and 18. The institution consistently achieves excellent results at A level achieving an average of 43% A* or A grades and 87% grade A to C. This strong track record enables the majority of Christ College pupils to progress on to their first choice of course and university including many Oxbridge places.
Faye, who attended Dylan Thomas Community School in Swansea, joined Christ College Brecon in 2019 after securing a scholarship. Currently studying Maths, Physics, and Economics at A Level she is predicted to get three A*s and hopes her Oxford degree will lead to a career that enables her to help others.
Faye said: “Although I haven’t got set career goals, I would like to do something that I enjoy and that helps make other people’s lives better, possibly in law.
“Whilst studying at Christ College, within its small community, I felt nurtured and supported which has helped me immensely. Having a good relationship with my teachers is very important to me and the faculty were really welcoming and care a lot about the students.
“I’m thankful to the Deputy Head Academic, Mr Bush, who set me up with a mentor to help with the Oxford application process which was really challenging and designed to test mental endurance and aptitude for the subject.”
Looking ahead to University, Faye said: “It’s going to be amazing to learn amongst people who share the same ambition and enthusiasm for my subjects as I do. I’m also looking forward to the tutorial-style teaching because I’ll be able to learn from experts in the fields which I am studying.”
Sam Kang was born in Singapore to his Korean mum and dad and lived in various countries growing up. He, along with his younger sister, settled at Christ College where he now studies Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A Levels.
As well as the support from his teachers, Sam also credits the guidance of Christ College alumni, Hayato Kaneda, who also secured a place at Oxford in 2018. Sam said: “Older students like Hayato certainly acted as role models and fuelled my motivation during my younger years. I had a huge amount of support from all my teachers who encouraged me to take part in extra-curricular activities which put me in a great position for my Oxford application. Christ College’s well-planned remote learning system also helped me to be continually educated effectively.”
Speaking of his future, Sam said: “I wish to extend my knowledge in physics through research and application and would like to be able to publish some of my work one day.”
Christ College assists all pupils in their university applications, with teachers suggesting resources, helping pupils to find their subjects and discuss admissions processes. All potential Oxbridge candidates are enrolled into a pupil-led academic discussion society and often partnered with Christ College alumni who have gone on to attend Oxbridge.
Deputy Head Academic David Bush said: “We support all pupils as they prepare to leave Christ College and enter further education. The process starts early on; identifying areas they are good at and enjoy and ensuring they have the personal and academic skills needed to pursue them. We then support them with their applications, arrange practice interviews with external teachers or other professionals and can offer specific additional classes where needed.
“We wish Faye and Sam the best of luck as they journey to Oxford. It really is a fantastic achievement that they should rightly be proud of.”
Head of Christ College, Gareth Pearson, said: “I’d like to congratulate Faye and Sam on behalf of the whole school – we know they will do the School proud. We want all of our pupils to reach their full potential and it is our role to support them to do this, through both academia and personal development.”
