Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies

CCSS students win four CIFE awards

Four CCSS students were presented with CIFE Excellence awards this March at a ceremony in the House of Lords.

CIFE’s top prize, the Richard Smart Gold Award, was won by Xenia Dethlefs. Xenia joined CCSS in January 2009 and in the space of just 18 months achieved outstanding A Level results – four A*s and an A.  She is an exceptional young woman: a talented mathematician who is fluent in three languages - English, German and Japanese, and more than competent in French.

In Italy she received a scholarship during the two years she studied there and at CCSS she was awarded the Paul Redhead Prize.  She also took part fully in extra-curricular events as a member of the Debating team, of the Global Issues Forum and the Student Council.  She is now in her first year at University College, London, reading Economics.

Nattaphong Rattanavirotkul, known as Rainbow, was awarded a CIFE prize for excellence in the Sciences.  He has excellent achievements across the range of the traditional sciences and although taught as three separate A Levels he always saw them as science and was continually drawing links across the three disciplines.  Rainbow is currently in his first year studying Biological Sciences at University College, London.

Weerapat  Satitkanitkul was also awarded a CIFE prize for excellence in the Sciences.  He went from a low base level of English to gain IELTS 6.5. and three A* grades in Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics in one academic year.  His ability was clearly demonstrated when he became one of only eight students in the UK  to gain maximum marks in the Senior Maths Challenge.  In the Mathematics STEP examinations he gained scores of 114 & 102 out of 120 (outstanding grade), putting him in the top few percent in the country.

Chulachat Kanjana-Oransiri was awarded a CIFE  prize for excellence in Humanities.  In Thailand his exceptional promise earned him the award of a full government scholarship to study in Britain.  He joined CCSS in September 2008 to undertake two year A-level courses in Mathematics, Economics, History and Politics.  Despite the untimely and sudden death of his father in August 2009 he went on to achieve top grades in all four subjects and is now in his first year at Durham University, reading PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics).  Chulachat also contributed fully to the college as a member of the Debating team, the Global Issues Forum and the Student Council.

At the same ceremony Anca Manole received the CCSS Prize for Outstanding Achievement.

In the picture below: Weerapat, Xenia, Anca, Stuart Nicholson (Principal), and Nattaphong