Aspiring lawyer who claimed free school meals heading to Oxford

An aspiring human rights lawyer has described the ‘surreal’ feeling of heading to Oxford after scoring top marks in her A-levels.

Janhavi Gupta, 18, grew up in a single-parent household from the age of three and is the first person in her family to go to university.

Janhavi, from Reading, now wants to work for Amnesty International or a similar human rights group after completing her law degree.

She landed three A*s in her A-levels at Kendrick School, a girl’s grammar school, surpassing her required grades of AAA to seal her place.

Describing the heart-lifting moment she opened her results, Janhavi said: ‘It felt amazing. I worked really hard over the past two years to get those grades. It was really motivating for the future.

‘It was great to see all the hard work pay off, I still find it so surreal to be able to say that I have a place at Oxford.’

One of the school leaver’s early childhood memories is going to the Jobcentre with her mum and her upbringing was a world apart from the model commonly associated with the path to Oxbridge.

‘I am a first-generation university applicant and so nobody in my family has studied law at university, let alone gone to Oxford,’ Janhavi explained.

‘I have also lived in a single-parent family since the age of three, after the arrest of my father and my estrangement from him.

‘This has been an additional barrier to me accessing opportunities both in my personal and professional life, although my mother is very supportive.

‘As well as this, I grew up on benefits and free school meals, and remember going to the Jobcentre with my mother when I was very young.

‘My childhood was therefore very challenging, both personally and academically, because there is less space to think about the future and university when you’re worried about money in the present moment.’

Janhavi, who is from a British Asian background, grew up in a low-opportunity area where progression to university has traditionally been low.

But above all else she wanted to make her mum proud and repay her for the sacrifices she made to give her daughter an education.

The sixth-former landed a coveted place at Oxford with support from Zero Gravity, a social mobility tech company. The platform helps low-opportunity state school students win places at top universities.

Janhavi was connected with a mentor who helped her navigate the application process and also proved a font of motivation.

‘My mentor was always incredibly empathetic and patient,’ Janhavi said.

‘As well as helping me on my university application journey, she was also someone I felt I could turn to when the UCAS process was making me self-critical. I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome, and she was very good at dispelling my self-doubt and anxiety, especially before Oxford interviews, and reminding me that I very much do have what it takes to succeed.

‘There is absolutely no way I could have gotten in without her.’

Janhavi is now heading to Corpus Christi College where she will take up the law degree that she hopes will allow her to one day help others from disadvantaged backgrounds. She will be following in the footsteps of famous Oxonians including former prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May, author JRR Tolkien and professor Stephen Hawking.

‘All my subject teachers, my head of sixth-form, and my friends all knew how badly I wanted the place, and that I put a lot of work into my application, so it was so exciting to break the news to them when I found out,’ she said.

‘I loved the nature of the law course at Oxford as soon as I saw it. I knew that it had my ideal structure and teaching method.

‘I was incredibly proud when I found out I was accepted, as were my teachers at school, my friends and my family.’

Janhavi is already looking beyond graduation to a career as a solicitor and plans to become a Zero Gravity mentor herself during her course. Ultimately, she wants to do pro bono work for Amnesty or a similar organisation.

‘Because of my background and the fact that I grew up in difficult circumstances, I’m really keen on the idea of growing up to work in a job that means I can give people more than I had,’ she said.

‘I know from my own experience how important it is to ensure that vulnerable people, of all ages, are supported, whether that’s with legal work or personally and emotionally. I want to help facilitate improvements to the lives of people who have had a really rough start.’

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