Hello there! My name is Ken and I am a Chinese senior high A Level student in Guangdong Country Garden School. Welcome to Ken's Study Journey website and blog!
Recently, I have been recruited by Oxbridge College in my school, which gives me an opportunity to practice English and let me study in an English environment.
Before starting my A Level study journey, I felt so excited and happy after receiving this notice. Although I had failed the entrance exam in SCIE, Shenzhen College of International Education, a year ago, I still have a chance to practice English and have a great studying environment.
I miss the GCGS school campus so much because I want to practice English speaking with my classmates and have a regular schedule.
My AS and A Level study journey will begin in a few days, so I have made a number of preparations to make sure I can enjoy a wonderful study journey later on.
Today, I am going to talk about my experience and feeling for entering college and my A Level study journey. Let's go!
Disclaimer: This article may contain some school information. If you are a staff or an editor and you do not want them to be displayed on my website, please contact me to delete them.
What is Oxbridge College?
Oxbridge College is a new type of class in my school, GCGS, which provides English courses to pursue students to enter University of Oxford or Cambridge.
For more information, please see articles from GCGS's WeChat official account:
- We will have our Oxbridge College, we promise
- The meeting ceremony of Oxbridge College
- Speaking in behalf of Oxbridge College
GCGS is shorted by Guangdong Country Garden School, but some people call it CGS for convenience.
Entry Requirements
It has different requirements for different grades and levels.
As it is told in its WeChat official account, we need to have 5 A* grades in the IGCSE exam and a 7.0 overall band score in IELTS. But, of course, if we got 4 A* grades and IELTS band 7.0, or IELTS band 6.5 and 5 A* grades, we still have a chance as long as it still has empty seats.
In fact, I got 5 A* grades in the IGCSE exam recently. I was so excited when I saw this wonderful result form.

However, I still got band 6.5 in the IELTS exam because I didn't study hard before until 2019, and hence I have hardship to uplift my English language, attempting to use complicated words and grammar.
There are 4 criteria in the IELTS writing and speaking (output) modules. Lexical Resources (LR, i.e. words, phrases and idioms) and Grammar Range and Accuracy (GRA) are the 2 criteria in both these modules.
So, we need to accumulate more English words and phrases in real life to generate an adequate vocabulary library in your mind. As I entered the Oxbridge College, I have an opportunity to practice English faster and collect more words and phrases.
Completely English Environment
So, why does my school create such a great environment and what is the purpose of it? It is designed for top students and English is required to go to universities overseas, so it is a completely English environment.
We will have to use and speak English in not only lessons but also daily management such as dormitory and canteen.
This gives me an opportunity to practice our English skills and correct errors with each other.
My Preparations before School
Before I start my A Level study journey, I have made several preparations to study better, for example:
- AS and A Level grid notebooks
- Paper-based daily goals checklist booklet and English vocabulary cards
- New folders with zippers
- New website with knowledge explanations

I Miss my School Campus
My school campus takes a great advantage for me to enjoy a productive environment. Not only can I speak English with my classmates, but also I can enjoy a regular timetable. Unlike my home, I need to face and overcome a handful of restrictions.
Speaking English with my Classmates
In fact, I am the only person who can speak excellent English in my family.
So, I have no chance to practice English with my family because my parents cannot speak English at all. I have to use the English version of Siri to do that.
In the GCGS school campus, however, I have the opportunity and environment to speak with my classmates with the use of English. I have already made this promise before entering senior high school, which was written and mentioned in this article last year.

Enjoying a Regular Schedule
My school has a regular schedule with which we can start studying, have meals and sleep at fixed time points.
However, my schedule at home is irregular and variable. With an irregular schedule, student's workflow can be interrupted at any time and hence the productivity will be at the bottom point, especially when solving a big mathematical question.
For instance, I have to wait for breakfast after getting up in the morning at home. I may be called at any time to eat lunch and dinner. This is because different family members get up at different time points and they have different plans from day to day.
My Other Achievements
Apart from being recruited by the college, I have also got diverse achievements and honours so far.
Since 2019, I have been featured by Aipei English, TCTM Programming and Phoenix City International School as a star student.
Recently, I have got a scholarship in the Oxbridge summer school, which involves 1,000 CNY and a free A Level recorded course.
See you at Oxbridge College!
These are my details about being recruited by and entering the Oxbridge College in my school. I hope you can have a wonderful A Level study journey and get better results in the exam!
Ken's Study Journey strives to provide high-quality articles about my tips and tutorials to study productively, together with some knowledge explanations. If you need help, I am here for you.
By writing articles with audio articles, and knowledge explanations on my website, I also can practice and enhance my English writing and speaking skills.
Subscribe to my email newsletter if you want to receive my latest articles, study tips, and news.
Your comment has been posted successfully, but it needs to be audited by myself artificially to prevent spam and negative comments.
Please wait for a few days. You will receive an email once your comment has been replied.