Overseas volunteer still finds time to be top student

The 16-year-old student discovered he had achieved six A*s, four As and a C on results morning yesterday at Tong High School in Bradford.

He has balanced his school work with dedicating a significant amount of his time to volunteering work – including helping to build a hospital waiting room for needy families in Sierra Leone.

He is planning on going back to Africa next year to continue his missionary work, while also pursuing his ambitious career plans.

He hopes to either become a doctor and work abroad supporting families in need, or start his own IT business following a busy summer holiday building websites for two companies including Bradford Cancer Fundraisers.

His success was part of Tong High School’s best GCSE results ever with almost half the year group securing five or more A* to C grades including maths and English.

Fellow Tong student Jack Nicholas has celebrated picking up a set of B and C grades after balancing his studies with becoming British under-16s karate champion.

He now hopes to represent TeamGB in Rio in the 2016 Olympics.

For the past two years the school has been congratulated by Schools Minister Nick Gibb for being in the top 100 most improved schools nationally for students achieving the Government’s GCSE benchmark.

The school’s head of year Simon Ford said: “Our students have worked very hard and we are thrilled with the results which are the best in the school’s history. The fact that we are continuing to improve year on year is testament to the hard work of staff and our pupils, with many of our students exceeding expectations.

“Every single student should feel very proud of themselves.”