One of our former Sixth Form students is settling into life at one of the UK’s most prestigious academic institutions after a clutch of top A-Level grades secured her a place at Cambridge University.

Eva Kalabina attained A*s in Economics, Maths, and Further Maths, along with an A in Chemistry, and has started to read Economics, Law, and Environment at university, with the long-term aim of working in the tech industry.

“The results weren’t what I expected. I was elated,” she said. “I thought I was going to get one A*, but to get three A*s was just insane.

“I always had an interest in Economics, especially since the start of Sixth Form when I started studying it for A-Levels. It was definitely, out of the subjects that I took, something that drew me particularly close.

“I knew I didn’t really want to do just a pure Economics degree, but the degree I’m doing is more case-study based, and it’s more to do with real-life scenarios and things that are going on in the world, and it’s less based on purely mathematical models.”

She continued: “Longer term I’ve got connections with people in the tech industry, so software companies, so that could be really interesting. Other than that, potentially consultancy, whether that’s in consultancy in the field itself or just as a role – so I’m pretty open.”

The 18-year-old credited Springwood, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, with preparing her for life at Cambridge.

She added: “My time at Springwood was pretty great. The teachers were a great support – obviously I couldn’t have gotten those grades without them.

“I learnt how to deal with a little bit of failure – nothing major, but when small things didn’t go my way, whether academic or otherwise, I was very very sensitive, and I think I changed quite a lot emotionally through high school and sixth form.

“It was a really great environment to do my A-Levels in, as all my friends were here and I just had a great time.”