A-level results: Teenage refugee can finally pursue medicine dream

Zainab Fadhal said the medical support she received for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) influenced her decision to study medicine

A teenage refugee who missed out on studying medicine after being caught up in last year's A-level downgrading is now set to pursue her dream.

Zainab Fadhal, 20, from Nottingham, eventually had her results moved up after a government U-turn but by then her chosen university course was full.

This year, she re-sat her chemistry exam, achieving a B, and will join the University of Leeds in September.

Miss Fadhal said she was "scared" but "excited" for the six-year course.

Last year she initially received a B in psychology, a C in biology and a D in chemistry, below the ABC grades she received in her mocks.

Days later her grades were moved to BBC, but by then the medicine course at the University of Plymouth was full, so she chose to resit her chemistry exam.

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During the last year Miss Fadhal has also worked part-time with the Nottingham City Crisis Team at Highbury Hospital to support her university application.

Miss Fadhal was offered an unconditional place ahead of her results, so the pressure of getting the grade was lifted, but said she was "grateful for sticking with it".

"A whole lot of weight had lifted off my shoulders," she said. "It's worked out in the end.

"It's been really difficult in the past year. My classes were all online because of lockdown after lockdown, and the struggle with my mental health especially after the rejection.

"I felt I had nothing to look forward to and it was the hardest time in my life.

"But looking back now the gap year was the best thing that could have happened, I learnt so much."

Miss Fadhal, aged six in Iraq, where she said it would have been difficult for her to pursue a career in medicine

Miss Fadhal and her family moved to the UK from Iraq in 2014 when she was 14 years old after an attack on her primary school.

She was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which influenced her decision to study medicine.

"I think 14-year-old Zainab would be incredibly proud of Zainab today," Miss Fadhal added.

"I would give her a hug and say, 'you are going to be fine, you don't have to worry, your life will peak in your 20s'."

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