Ukrainian refugee awarded special recognition for art GCSE

A Ukrainian refugee says she has “mixed feelings” but is “so happy” after receiving special recognition for her art GCSE and achieving seven grade 9s and one 8 in total.

Liza Minenko, 16, fled Ukraine in 2022 with her family after spending two weeks in a basement in Kyiv after the war broke out.

When her family arrived in the UK, Liza and her two siblings were given full scholarships by Brighton College.

She said: “I was nervous, but I am so happy. I have mixed feelings. I want to go back to Ukraine but we are all really scared to go back to Kyiv.

“I haven’t seen my grandparents for years since the start of the war but I know they will be proud of what I have achieved today.”

Liza received recognition from the Cambridge OCR exam board as one of the top performers in art in the country.

She is planning to take art, maths, physics and chemistry at A-level.

At an assembly marking the third year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February this year, Liza addressed the school.

“You need a lot of strength to live in a country that is in a state of war,” she said.

“You also need a lot of strength when you have to leave behind your home country and everything and everyone you know.”

She is one of 23 Ukrainian refugees enrolled in scholarships at Brighton College, and her mother praised the school for their “humanity, acceptance and warmth”.

Also at the college, Nathanial Byng, 16, won a national award for achieving the highest mark in the country in his English Literature GCSE.

The college said that both his parents are “senior figures” in publishing, so he started reading at a young age.