Advertisement

Ukrainian, 18, at school in UK gets four A's at A-level while father fights on front line

Zorian Tytych has achieved four A's in his A-levels while his father fights in Ukraine. (SWNS)
Zorian Tytych has achieved four A's in his A-levels while his father fights in Ukraine. (SWNS)

A Ukrainian teenager studying at a school in Britain is celebrating achieving four A’s in his A-levels – while his father fights on the front line.

Zorian Tytych, 18, from Kyiv, studied for his GCSEs and A-levels at Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wales while his family remained in the war torn country.

The teenager has now attained top marks in his A-levels in physics, maths, biology and chemistry – paving the way for a biology degree at Durham University.

Before the war broke out in Ukraine Zorian’s parents were lawyers – but his dad quickly joined the army and is still on the front line on the Belarus border.

His mother was forced to flee to Lviv in western Ukraine for a month, while other members of his family are seeking to fight for their country.

Zorian said: “[Dad] joined the military the day after the war started, signing up to the territorial defence and receiving basic training.

Zorian Tytych attained A's in physics, maths, biology and chemistry. (SWNS)
Zorian Tytych attained A's in physics, maths, biology and chemistry. (SWNS)

“He did this because he wanted to protect his home and support his country.

“As the war has progressed, he has moved on; he has been assigned to the military and is now seeing active service on the front line.

“He is now on the Belarus border looking at routes, surveillance, communication and connecting the regiments and their communities.

Watch: Education secretary warns A-level students may get lower results than predicted

“My cousin is doing the same and is now based near Kherson where he is right in the thick of it and all the shelling.

“My uncle is currently in the recruitment process for joining the army.”

Zorian has been doing voluntary translation work helping host families in Cardiff who have taken in Ukrainian refugees alongside his studies – and has now joined the army’s training programme to become a translator.

Ukrainian soldiers ride an armoured personnel carrier (APC) on a road in the Donetsk region on August 13, 2022, amid the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP) (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Zorian Tytych's family are fighting Russia in Ukraine. (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty)

Cardiff Sixth Form College principal, Gareth Collier heaped praise on the teen, saying: “We have received glowing reports from the host family who described him ‘as an example of an outstanding, selfless individual willing to help others where he can’.

“He has been an active member of the school community and we are delighted that he is able to continue his education here in the UK with these tremendous results.”

Hundreds of thousands of pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland got their A-level results today, having sat exams for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak.

Grades are down on the past two years but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.

They had been expected to drop back from 2021 levels – when pupils were assessed by their teachers – as part of a transition year which saw marks aiming to reflect a midway point between last year and 2019.