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Ten 'A' grades for Czech wonder student
A YORK-educated Czech student has secured 10 A grade A-levels and three distinctions in one of the most successful hauls of results ever recorded by a pupil in Britain.
Jan Sramek, who arrived in England only two years ago to begin his studies at Bootham School, managed to get full marks in nearly half of all the papers he took.
His achievement has been described as "staggering" by the fee-paying school's headteacher, Jonathan Taylor, after the 19-year-old sat 44 papers during a marathon 78 hours in the exam room earlier this summer.
The gruelling schedule peaked during two consecutive days when Jan sat a total of 10 papers – the equivalent of 182 hours – and he took at least one examination every weekday for more than a fortnight in June.
Jan won his place at Bootham School through a scholarship scheme to allow more Eastern European pupils to study in Britain, and he is now due to read economics at Cambridge University.
The teenager said: "Although I was more attracted by the challenge of taking so many exams in a short period of time rather than the results themselves, I am, of course, delighted.
"It indeed proved to be both physically and mentally demanding.
"I would like to thank my teachers – it was not only the brilliant teaching, but also the exceptional personalities which made Bootham such a great place.
"I shall miss the school and even more so the people, both of whom made a greater impact than I had expected."
Jan gained A grades in maths, further maths, additional further maths, economics, business, German, physics, information and communication technology, economics and business studies combined, and general studies. He was also awarded three distinctions in Advanced Extension Awards – the next exam standard above A-level – in business, maths and economics.
The teenager came to Bootham School, which was founded in 1823, from a small village in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, called Drevohostice.
His father, Karel, runs a company providing back-up diesel generators to hospitals, law courts and the police, while his mother, Vera, who has a PhD in philosophy and Russian as well as a degree in English, is a deputy headteacher.
Mr Taylor said: "Jan's results are truly staggering and particularly given the intensity of the exam process itself, where he went through nearly 78 hours of exams throughout the period.
"He is a remarkable young man, charming and modest but with an unswerving determination. He is undoubtedly destined to make a marked contribution to whatever field he enters and we are all excited by his potential."
Jan, who discovered his record-breaking exam results via an email at 6am yesterday while back in the Czech Republic, has been awarded a scholarship to study at Cambridge University's Trinity College.
Other students at the school were also celebrating impressive sets of results, including Jo Ellery, Patrick Tiney, Marianne Forrest and Erin Alderson-Tuck who all picked up at least four A grades.
Out of this year's 70 A-level students, six are going on to study at either Cambridge or Oxford universities.
Bootham School pupil Peter Wickham, 18, from York, found himself with one of the top five marks in the country for general studies.
He was one of more than 11,600 candidates who took the subject and he is now due to read law at Oxford University having notched up 5 A grades at A-level and two merits in Advanced Extension Awards.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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