FOUR Christ College students are celebrating after being offered places to study at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The four are half of a group of eight students who applied to the two Oxbridge universities from the independent co-educational boarding school situated in Llanfaes, Brecon.

The four successful students are Aisling Tarpey, Adonijah Airede, Hayato Kaneda and Kevin Zhao.

Aisling, from Cradoc, Brecon, has received an unconditional offer to read English at Lincoln College, Oxford. She joined Christ College seven years ago.

Adonijah has been offered the chance to study Natural Sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Hayato has been offered the chance to study Physics at University College, Oxford for Physics

Kevin has been offered the chance to read Engineering

at St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

Eager to spend some time studying in the UK, Adonijah Hayato and Kevin all opted to join Christ College’s sixth form.

Adonijah has come to Brecon from Abuja, Nigeria, Hayato, is from Tokyo in Japan and Kevin is from Shanghai.

Aisling said she was delighted to be offered a place at Oxford and paid tribute to the help she had got from her teachers during the application process.

She said: “The English department provided me with a lot of guidance and resources, and I was able to have two practise interviews. These mock interviews were especially helpful as I felt more confident on the day.”

After her English degree, Aisling is hoping to complete a graduate medicine course, with a view to consultancy and medical law in the long term.

Adonijah said: “I’ve always wanted to study in the UK, but not anywhere. My parents and I searched for a school that was not only about academia.

“We wanted a place where I would enjoy not only learning, but also everything around that makes up a school, such as sports and extra-curricular activities – a school with a strong ethos. That place

was Christ College in Brecon.”

Adonijah is thinking of following up his Natural Science degree by studying for a PhD.

Hayato said: “I didn’t know anything about uni applications, but teachers talked me through the process.

“At first, I didn’t even know what subject to choose, but they advised me to look at different websites, videos, books, to further develop my knowledge.

“Teachers at Christ College also encouraged me to do extra work, such as taking part in the Physics Olympiad, and taught us way beyond A Level.”

Hayato said he would decide whether he wants to continue studying or what career to follow after experiencing life at Oxford.

Kevin said he hopes to follow his degree with a job as an engineer, although he is also interested in working in finance.

Gareth Pearson, the head at Christ College, said: “Aisling, Adonijah, Hayato and Kevin should be as proud of their achievement as we are. We want our pupils to truly enjoy their academic learning and personal development, to reach their best potential.

“Such good news confirmed and strengthened the belief, shared by all our staff, that a whole person approach is key to the success and fulfilment of our pupils, whatever subject they choose to specialise in.”

Mr Pearson said the competition for places at Oxbridge has never been so fierce. As an example he said the number of applications has more than doubled to Oxford over the past 20 years, with 22,000 applicants for 3,250 places.

These Oxbridge successes follow the recent Estyn inspection of Chris College, which delivered an “excellent” verdict. The school achieved the highest score possible in all five areas of judgement: standards; wellbeing and attitude to learning; teaching and learning experiences; care, support and guidance; and leadership and management.

Christ College is a boarding and day school with 370 pupils between the ages of seven to 18 on its roll.