Two Ark Academy students are Cambridge University-bound after getting high marks in their A-levels.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Fatima Ali with her mother, after she got her A* BB Grades confirmed today. She's set to study law at SOAS from September. Picture: Ark AcademyFatima Ali with her mother, after she got her A* BB Grades confirmed today. She's set to study law at SOAS from September. Picture: Ark Academy (Image: Archant)

Head girl Minali Alwis got three As and will study geography at Kings College, at the university. She will get the Oxbridge Reuben Scholarship, worth £22,500.

Minali said: “I moved to England with my mum ten years ago from Sri Lanka and I didn’t speak English. My mum is a single parent and a nurse in the NHS and has really inspired me.

“At Ark I feel the teachers were always giving me things that were outside my comfort zone and new challenges.”

Meanwhile Isabella Addo got an A*, A and a B in english, sociology and french. She has got a place at the historic university to study human, political and social sciences. She has recently completed a summer internship at Blackrock Investments. She’s been awarded the £9,000 Marshall Wace bursary.

Isabella praised the school, saying it “has provided me with the opportunities I wouldn’t have had elsewhere.”

Other students got bursaries and scholarships into top universities, including Alexandru Ion, who has got a bursary worth £30,000 to study medical biosciences.

Head boy Milola Adelekan is heading to the University of Warwick to fulfil his dream of studying philosophy, where he will be joined in the Midlands by Daniel Hunt, who got two A*s, A and B to study maths.

Another student celebrating their success is Fatima Ali who is set to study law at SOAS, and is aiming to become a barrister.

She said: “I was struggling with my studies at primary school, but once I started secondary school at Ark Academy, my grades improved dramatically.

“In the future I would like to study law and become a barrister. I like the way the law helps change people’s lives. As a disabled person, I’ve seen how the laws regarding disability have really helped people to be seen as equals. I’m excited to see what the world of Law at SOAS has to offer.”

Delia Smith, principal of Ark Academy: “We are all really proud of our sixth form and the opportunities that can transform the lives of our wonderful students.”