A Nottingham pupil has said she overcame racial abuse in primary school to be offered a place to study at Cambridge University after arriving from Pakistan 13 years ago.
Ayesha Ansar, 18, lives near Carlton and has finished her A-levels at Nottingham Academy sixth form with an A* in economics and two As in history and English literature - grades made all the more impressive by the fact that English is her third language.
But it was not always straight forward for Ayesha, who was bullied during her time at primary school - including one incident where she was locked in the school toilets by other pupils.
Her parents arrived here with Ayesha and two younger siblings "without knowing how the system worked" and so did not have access to any support.
Ayesha said: "I got bullied a lot during school because I didn't speak English. I was locked in the school toilets with the lights off once and my dad told me to learn English so they couldn't pick on me about this anymore.
"I was fluent within months when I was only eight, with Pashto and Urdu the main languages I speak at home.
"Being bullied massively lowered my self-esteem to the point where I felt I didn't even want to apply, but my teachers encouraged me to. It has made me stand up for myself better now though
"My dad came here as an engineer but he could not get any of the jobs he applied for and it was very hard to deal with. He eventually went into building management and my mum went into teaching.
"I was shocked that Cambridge had even accepted my application."
Ayesha has also received an offer from the University of Nottingham to study engineering and is considering her options ahead of term beginning in early October.
Earlier this year, Ayesha also launched her own bath bomb company called Bubble 'n' Sizzle - set up through a enterprise project at her school.
She added: "When things are hard, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and I can get through it.
“I would not have been able to achieve these grades without the help and support of all of my teachers and sixth form team. They guided me throughout my studies.
"In the future, I would like to get into the financial sector in the long term or I would like to go into politics. Having experienced how hard the system is for some people, I would quite like to be an MP and help others."
Ahmad Ansar, Ayesha's father, said: “I am really pleased with my daughter’s results, she worked extremely hard to achieve them.
"I would like to thank her teachers and sixth form team at Nottingham Academy for their support.”
Katie Beldham, standards and progress leader of sixth form at Nottingham Academy, said: “Ayesha has been an outstanding pupil in our Sixth Form and we are delighted that she has received results that enable her to attend the University of Cambridge.
"She is so deserving of this opportunity and we can’t wait to see what her future holds.”
Matt King, principal at Nottingham Academy, said: “I am extremely proud of Ayesha and her wonderful achievement.
“She has shown great determination to succeed and has worked incredibly hard, and these results are testament to these efforts.
"I wish her the very best at the University of Cambridge and wish her every success for her future endeavours.”
