Eighty-five students at London academy secure Oxbridge places

Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham, London, has regularly witnessed its students take up Oxbridge places.

Dominykas Antanaitis and Azeez Shekoni have secured places at Oxbridge (Brampton Manor/PA)

Danielle Desouza18 August 2022

Eighty-five students at a London academy are set to embark on university courses at Oxbridge, with one saying his “heart stopped” when he got the news.

Brampton Manor Academy in East Ham, in east London, has regularly seen its students secure places at either Cambridge or Oxford, and this year, 85 out of 470 will follow.

The school picked up considerable attention on Twitter as one of the platform’s top trends for all of Thursday and tweets applauding individual students on their results accrued hundreds of likes.

One is Dominykas Antanaitis, who will study engineering at Cambridge.

“My heart stopped when I opened the email; it took me some time to realise I had actually got in,” said Dominykas, who is the first in his family to attend university and received free school meals.

“I called my mum straight away and she was ecstatic. I stay in school until 6pm most days to study because there is no space for me to work at home. I am so happy my hard work has paid off.”

Azeez Shekoni, who will study medicine, will join his brother Harun – a former Brampton Manor Academy student – at Oxford, with the latter studying the university’s prestigious philosophy, politics and economics degree, which has launched numerous politicians’ careers.

“Going to Oxford is something me and my brother had both dreamed about for a long time, so when I got my offer it was a special moment for me and my family,” Azeez said.

“Coming to Brampton taught me that everyone has the potential to achieve their goals – regardless of their background – with hard work and determination.”

Nearly 90% of year 13s at the academy – 430 students – achieved straight A/A* grades.

We are exceptionally proud of what our students have achieved. They have shown incredible resilience and determination to ensure the disruption experienced over the past couple of years has not halted their path to success

Dr Dayo Olukoshi OBE

Executive principal, Dr Dayo Olukoshi OBE, said: “We are exceptionally proud of what our students have achieved. They have shown incredible resilience and determination to ensure the disruption experienced over the past couple of years has not halted their path to success.

“We passionately believe there is no limit to what our students can achieve with sufficient effort and determination.”

In 2021, 55 Oxbridge offers were held by students at the academy, with 51 received in 2020.