It was definitely a punch in the air moment for England Youth Boxing champion and UCB student Ben 鈥淭he Bomber鈥� Vaughan when he finally passed his GCSE English.聽
With a potentially high profile career dealing with media interviews in his sights, the 18-year-old聽Level 3 BTEC Diploma in Sports Studies聽student was determined to get the subject under his belt after failing it twice before, once at school and then at college.聽
鈥淚 failed by a couple of marks the first time and then took the exam again when I first came to UCB, but didn鈥檛 really put the effort in,鈥� said Ben, who competed in the National Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas in July.
鈥淚 realised that if I didn鈥檛 get it the third time, I would end up having to sit it at the same time as my little brother. I definitely didn鈥檛 want to do that!鈥澛�
With plenty of encouragement and one-to-one support from UCB Learning Services lecturer Deborah Orrock, Ben gave it his all and, this summer, was absolutely ecstatic to receive his coveted C Grade.聽
鈥淒eborah gave me so much advice, telling me what I should or shouldn鈥檛 do all the way, so that I understood what I was learning, not just copying things down and going through the motions,鈥� said Ben, who hopes to be picked for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.聽
鈥淪he went through past papers and directed me to websites which went through everything I needed to know, step-by-step, which also popped up on my profile on the UCB portal. I was also shown how much time to spend on different types of questions, so I didn鈥檛 waste marks, and how best to juggle my studies with revision for the GCSE exam.聽
鈥淲hen Deborah phoned to tell me I had passed, it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I was so relieved and can now completely focus on my course and training.鈥澛�
Alongside his Sporting Performance and Excellence Diploma, Ben is also doing an聽Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE).聽
