From the war-torn city of Kabul, Dilmeet makes the grade

CELEBRATION . . . Dilmeet Babbar who arrived from Afghanistan two years ago with principal Martin Knowles

WHEN Dilmeet Babbar came as a refugee from Afghanistan to Oldham two years ago he only spoke a few sentences of English.

Little did he know that he would achieve a fantastic set of GCSE results, including a C in English ­- which he was most proud of.

Dilmeet, originally from Kabul, joined Oldham Academy North in January, 2015, and has worked to get his good grades.

He got 2A*s, 6As and two Cs.

Dilmeet said: "I was thinking that I was going to fail English. I thought, if I pass that, that's enough for me. I thought I was going to fail it.

"I got a C in English. I thought I would get a D or an E.

"I decided to do the Religious Studies GCSE two weeks before the exam and I got an A in that.

"When I first came here I only spoke one or two sentences in English.

"A lot of people were really friendly, they were like my family.

"All the staff were really supportive.

"I think my parents will be really proud of me."

Dilmeet will now go on to Blue Coat School's sixth form, where he will study maths, further maths, physics and economics.

Principal Martin Knowles said: "Dilmeet joined us nearly two years ago when he was new to the country.

"In the space of 20 months, Dilmeet has achieved absolutely superb GCSE results, which will open up doors for him to study medicine, dentistry and all the elite professions.

"It's phenomenal. He worked hard and with the support of his parents and the staff to make sure he got all the grades."