Elena’s story: when grit meets support
Elena* is a refugee from Ukraine. She spoke no English when she arrived in the UK in 2023. Today, between managing caregiving responsibilities at home and working as a freelance interpreter, Elena is making her way to university with tutoring support from Tutorfair Foundation. This is her story.
Rupture and new beginnings
I was 16 when the war broke out in Ukraine. My family had to evacuate and leave the country immediately. We arrived in the UK as refugees who spoke no English.
As my family was worried about my education, I took up a vocational path in Newcastle. I soon found that it pushed me away from my dream of attending university. I wanted to study law and politics, join the civil service someday, and make a career in politics.
I realised I would have to take the A-levels to work my way towards a university like Oxford. I joined college with this goal but, soon after, my father passed away. I chose to change schools and begin again.
Rejection and resilience
I was still struggling with advanced reading and writing in English and this was a disadvantage.
I was finishing my year at college and getting Us and Es. My teachers, especially the Head of Year, an experienced educator, told me that I would never get the grades I needed to go to university. The discouragement increased my determination. I am driven when people doubt me.
I went to Cambridge to attend summer school and spoke to students there. When I saw how much effort they were putting in, I knew I needed extra academic support.
Finding support with Tutorfair Foundation
As I am the first generation in my family to go to university, I had no one to guide me. I’ve always had to take responsibility for my own education and academic life. I reached out to 15 tutoring companies for free tutoring support. They rejected me. The only organisation that said yes was Tutorfair Foundation.
Meeting a mentor
Tutorfair Foundation gave me the perfect mentor. I started tutoring for law with Daniel, a successful lawyer. There are only around 17,000 barristers in the UK and he’s one of them! And, as he had also worked in the civil service, he had so much insider knowledge and experience to share. I was fascinated by everything he told me. He helped me with knowledge application. I struggled with the analysis and evaluation components of the Law exams and Daniel really helped me with that.
On track and pushing forward
As my attendance was good, Tutorfair Foundation offered support in politics which I gladly took. The sessions helped in practicing exam techniques and practicing essay-style questions. My tutor also gave me things to research outside of the lessons.
The difference tutoring has made
Tutoring has been really helpful and is special because it is much more personalised than lessons. It gives me room to talk about things and ask questions directly. I can go beyond and think about the subject more deeply in a comfortable environment. I’m so glad Tutorfair Foundation has supported me this year. It was valuable and insightful. Thank you.
Next year, my focus is Maths, the subject I need to master to get my three As.
*Student name and picture have been anonymised for safety.
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