Nabilah Rahman has been shortlisted at the British Education Awards 2020.

Nabilah has been nominated in the Special Award category which recognises students who have achieved both academically and personally. The award highlights those who not only achieve high grades but also take part in countless opportunities to better themselves and improve their skills. Nabilah is a shining example of exactly that. 

She currently studies Computer Science, Economics and Maths at Ashton Sixth Form College after completing her secondary education at Fairfield High School for Girls. Nabilah is on the XL programme at Ashton, which supports high achieving students to succeed above and beyond their potential. 

Since high school she has always been interested in Computing. She studied Computer Science at GCSE, securing a grade 9, and enjoyed learning about new topics and aspects of computing. As a result she now plans to work in Cyber Security, explaining,

“Computers are a huge part of our society and technology is always going to be there. I also think they are an industry who are looking for more women and also more diversity.” 

During her time at Ashton so far, Nabilah has fully immersed herself into college life. Every day of the week she takes part in enrichment activities including Debate Club, Mindfulness Wednesdays, Dungeons & Dragons, Charities and Mooting Society. Last term she also gained her Sign Language qualification. Nabilah is constantly challenging herself, thriving in new environments and meeting new people along the way. She recently gained a place on CISCO’s work experience week for women, an American technology company specialising in IT, networking and cyber security solutions. Next week she will also attend a talk with GCHQ at the college, the government’s intelligence and security organisation.

Keeping busy and engaged is nothing new to Nabilah. At Fairfield High School, she was involved in the Young Enterprise business programme, the Charities club and various sports such as badminton and rounders. She commented on her smooth transition to college following her involvement in the ASPIRE programme and is enjoying the challenges and independence that have come with studying A-Levels at Ashton. 

Outside of school she has also been known to support her father in hosting various community events such as the Bangla School, helping young people to understand their culture and develop their Bengali language skills. Nabilah’s father is extremely proud of his daughter and it was his nomination that has seen her progress to the final stage of the awards. 

The winners of the British Education Awards are announced on Thursday 30th January at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester.