A STUDENT who only came to Bradford last year from Nigeria is making her dream of working with artificial intelligence a reality after an excellent set of GCSE results.

Tomi Ogunrinola came to the city with her parents last October for a better education and started at Dixons Cottingley Academy in January this year.

The youngster was hoping for 6s and 7s but ended up with mainly 8s and 9s.

She achieved three 9s in English Language, English Literature and R.E., an 8 in Maths, a 6 in Geography, a 5 in French, 8-8 in Combined Sciences and a Distinction 2 in Small Business.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Tomi Ogunrinola from Dixons Cottingley Academy with her resultsTomi Ogunrinola from Dixons Cottingley Academy with her results

Ms Ogunrinola said: “I’m feeling so excited, I didn’t expect this at all.”

She added: “I was so nervous before, I did better, I’m very happy.”

This crop of GCSE students had to endure rapidly evolving settings and scenarios for their studies, with the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Ogunrinola said: “It has been so tough, a lot of sleep-deprived nights, a lot of study, a lot of sacrifices going out with friends, a lot of pressure too.

She added: “I didn’t want to have any regrets, I wanted to have very good grades.”

Ms Ogunrinola is hoping to study Maths, Physics and Computer Science next and then eventually wants to take Artificial Intelligence at university.

She said, “everything is tech now” and wants to help people by finding solutions and solving problems in this way.

There was another example of someone moving to the city and excelling, at Tong Leadership Academy.

Julia Takacsova only came to the UK in Year 8 and was unable to speak English when she first joined the school.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Julia Takacsova from Tong Leadership AcademyJulia Takacsova from Tong Leadership Academy

Despite this, the talented pupil achieved grade 8s in both English Language and English Literature.

She will be going on to study law at college and hopes to specialise in human rights law.

Tong Leadership Academy as a whole is celebrating its most successful set of GCSE results.

There was a 17 per cent increase in pupils achieving a “strong pass” (grade 9-5) in GCSE English and Maths.

Those achieving a “standard pass” (grade 9-4) in those same subjects increased by 21 per cent.

One of the many high-achieving pupils at the school was Erika Kumar who achieved the top grade of 9 in five subjects.

Erika will be pursuing her love of science at Leeds City College next.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Erika Kumar from Tong Leadership AcademyErika Kumar from Tong Leadership Academy