Offer Stories | Renee L, Terry Z: When Ways of Learning Reach the Future

When outcomes are received, we prefer to return to the process.

For Terry and Renee, Cambridge did not emerge as a sudden objevtive. It emerged gradually through sustained reflection on how they learn, how they think, and what kinds of academic environments allow them to grow with depth and clarity. When learning style, intellectual rhythm, and personal choice begin to align, outcomes become a natural consequence rather than the starting point.

This offer story does not focus on arrival, but on how two students, within the Dulwich learning environment, steadily moved toward futures that genuinely fit them.

Terry Z: Aligning Academic Direction with Intellectual Depth

For a long time, Terry's university pathway did not point toward the UK. Like many science-focused students, he initially considered a U.S. route, until he began to reflect more carefully on his learning habits and personal temperament.

"I later realised that I might not be well suited to the pace and style of American universities."

This was not a conclusion driven by outcomes, but by self-understanding.

In the spring of last year, Terry began to study UK university curricula in detail. As he explored Cambridge's course structure, particularly the weighting and depth of Mathematics with Physics, a sense of clarity emerged. This was a pathway that prioritised theoretical depth and sustained reasoning, closely aligned with how he preferred to think. Challenging Cambridge became not an abstract ambition, but a decision grounded in judgement.

That same judgement is evident in how Terry approaches learning. Whether through BPHO competitions, research on magnetic fields in robotics, or his experience at Harvard SSP, his focus has never been on task completion alone, but on understanding the logic that underpins problems. At Dulwich, the fully English teaching environment played a key role. Classroom discussion, pacing, and the way teachers guide inquiry closely resembled the university-style learning he encountered during overseas programmes. This continuity allowed him to focus on how to think, rather than how to adapt linguistically.

Equally important was the freedom of time and space. Instead of being confined to repetitive practice, Terry was given room to explore emerging interests in advance. Early learning was not about racing ahead, but about building conceptual depth, allowing knowledge to form a coherent, layered structure rather than isolated results.

Beyond academics, Terry maintained an interest in public issues. His participation in MUN stemmed from a curiosity about politics and philosophy and offered a context in which he learned to use English with precision and formality. Experiences that appeared "unrelated to physics" ultimately strengthened his ability to articulate complex ideas through language.

Looking back, Terry describes his time at Dulwich not as being “pushed,” but as being “allowed.” Teachers did not restrict his direction; instead, they responded with resources, recommendations, and steady encouragement at the right moments.

“After coming to Dulwich, I became much more proactive than I was in middle school.”

This shift was not a sudden change in personality, but a natural outcome of learning within an environment built on trust and respect.

When Terry speaks about Cambridge, he is drawn not only to its academic strength, but to an atmosphere where history, nature, and intellectual inquiry intersect, a place where sustained thinking feels both possible and valued.

Renee L: Creating Order Through Exploration

If Terry's path gradually converged, Renee's growth took shape as an expanding network. She did not begin with a fixed destination but arrived at clarity through continuous experimentation.

With an understanding that physics relies heavily on mathematical foundations, Renee initially chose advanced mathematics. Over time, however, she recognised that the highly abstract, non-linear reasoning required by mathematics did not fully match her natural thinking style. Rather than forcing alignment, she made a deliberate adjustment: returning her focus to physics, where sustained curiosity could be maintained.

This was not a retreat, but a clear-eyed act of self-awareness.

Academically, Renee's engagement has been consistent and rigorous. BPHO Gold, Senior Physics Challenge, Physics Bowl Gold, and three months of Isaac Physics practice were never treated as achievements to showcase, but as foundational training. In particular, long-term work on Isaac Physics helped her experience how steady practice gradually builds both skill and confidence.

In Year 12, Renee chose an EPQ topic on quantum algorithms and quantum computing, deliberately placing physics and mathematics side by side. The project demanded not only conceptual understanding, but the ability to search, evaluate, and synthesise academic sources, and to follow the full structure of research-based writing, an experience closely aligned with university-level learning.

Yet her development was never confined to academics alone. Renee maintained long-standing interests in art, music, and performance. When she first joined Dulwich, she focused on stabilising her academic foundation. Once her rhythm became clear, she began exploring wider possibilities: joining various clubs, participating in karting activities, and eventually founding a board game club inspired by her interest in science fiction and strategy games.

During the school's annual musical ERROR 404, teachers recognised her organisational strength and encouraged her to take on the role of stage director. Though unplanned, the role became a defining moment in which her capabilities were trusted and acknowledged. She later taught herself rhythm guitar, performed with friends, and in her third year joined rock climbing CCA, inviting both mind and body into challenge.

This multiplicity was not fragmentation. On the contrary, Renee has a clear understanding of time and efficiency. She knows that choice only remains empowering once foundations are secure.

“If I hesitate for too long, I might not act at all.”

So, she chooses action, while remaining open to uncertainty.

Boarding life played a significant role in her growth. As a Boarding Prefect, she developed responsibility through coordination and execution, learning how communities function best when built collaboratively rather than managed from above. The trust embedded in boarding life motivated her to work with greater efficiency and accountability.

Distinct Paths, Equal Regard

Viewed together, Terry and Renee's journeys were not pre-designed or deliberately contrasted. They became clear precisely because they were allowed to.

Terry's learning leaned toward depth and focus. He needed time to evaluate academic environments and space to test whether interests could sustain long-term commitment. His shift from a U.S. route to a UK pathway was not indecision, but a mature reassessment supported by a learning environment that treated redirection as growth rather than risk.

Renee's development followed a different rhythm. Her learning was non-linear, shaped by exploration and reorganisation. Academic rigour coexisted with creative expression, leadership, and experimentation. Through action and reflection, she learned what to pursue deeply and what to release.

What unites these paths is a shared premise: students do not need to become a “type” before fitting into a school.

At Dulwich, resources are not pre-assigned. They unfold alongside students'  interests, abilities, and judgement. Support does not replace decision-making, but offers information, time, and trust at critical moments.

Within such an environment, Terry could move inward toward depth, and Renee outward toward integration, arriving at different destinations, yet equally aligned with who they are.

The Shift Towards Higher-Density Learning

Looking ahead, both Terry and Renee will encounter learning environments that demand greater intellectual intensity and self-discipline. What they carry forward is not only knowledge, but a way of learning shaped at Dulwich: the courage to judge, the willingness to commit, and the clarity to remain grounded amid uncertainty.

This is the state Dulwich hopes students graduate with, not defined by outcomes, but equipped to continue exploring with purpose, depth, and independence.

Meanwhile, individual learning pathways have continued to take shape, coming together to form a clear and coherent picture of this year's overall university outcomes. 

Strong performance across leading global universities

As id 5th Feburary 2026, more than two-thirds of all offers were received from institutions widely recognised as among the world's leading universities.

• QS World Top 100 universities: 242 offers(64.4% of all offers)
• QS Top 50 universities: 175 offers (46.5%)

University destinations by region

• United States: 100 offers

These outcomes reflect a consistently high level of application quality, with the majority of U.S. offers concentrated in top-ranked institutions.

U.S. News Top 50 universities: 57 offers (57% of U.S. offers)

U.S. News Top 100 universities: 75 offers (75%)

• United Kingdom:186 offers

Nearly half of all offers and represent the most popular destination overall

G5 and Russell Group universities: 157 offers (84.4% of UK offers)

• Australia: 57 offers

All Australian offers were received from top-50 universities, including institutions such as the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, and UNSW, an exceptional level of consistency.

• Canada: 25 offers

University of Toronto: 17 offers (68% of Canadian offers)

From individual choice to collective outcome

Viewed together, these results do not reflect the replication of a single pathway, but rather students’ ability to arrive at high-quality outcomes across diverse higher education systems.

This remains central to the Dulwich approach: not to manufacture results through fixed templates, but to build an environment in which each student can develop a path that is both sustainable and genuinely their own, one that allows them to move forward with confidence, depth, and clarity.

Grow in Dulwich, Thrive in Life