Surpassing over 100,000 applications, Ninh Binh teacher wins the world's most 'difficult' scholarship

Despite his poor academic record, Hoang Ngan overcame the seemingly impossible to win a full 2nd degree in physics from the UK.

Nguyen Hoang Ngan was born in 1995 in a poor family in Ninh Binh province. Ngan graduated with honors in English Language from the University of Foreign Languages ​​- Vietnam National University, Hanoi. At the end of 2024, she won a full Chevening scholarship for a master's degree from the British Government, majoring in Education, at the University of Bristol.

The school is ranked 9th in the Russell Group – a group of leading universities in the UK and 54th in the world. “When I received the email of admission, I still couldn’t believe that I had passed because this is one of the most difficult and prestigious scholarships in the world, with 100,000 applications each year, and the competition is extremely high,” Ngan shared.

Hoang Ngan took a photo at Tower Bridge in London, UK.

She used to be self-conscious that the dream of studying abroad was too far-fetched for someone from a poor rural area, so she had never dared to think about or prepare for this journey. It was not until May 2023 that for the first time in her life, Ngan had the idea of ​​studying abroad and wanted to choose the UK to study.

Chevening was the only scholarship Ngan chose to apply for. A month later, Ngan contacted her supervisor and was told that her application was weak and her essay was not up to the scholarship criteria. She constantly heard people discouraging her from saying that she was "not suitable for the UK Government scholarship", "it is impossible to pass"... Ngan was discouraged and wanted to give up many times because she thought "I cannot reach the UK Government scholarship".

Calming down, Ngan seriously thought about the path she wanted to take. From understanding herself, Ngan determined to complete her profile and pursue her dream to the end.

Coming from the countryside, Ngan was shocked because she could not speak any English correctly when she went to Hanoi to study, while her friends around her communicated “like the wind”. She realized that the main reason for this situation was that rural students followed the traditional way of learning, which emphasized grammar and focused on practicing exercises on paper. That was also the motivation for Ngan to found a volunteer teaching project in poor rural areas, bringing a comprehensive 4-skill English learning experience to rural students, called “Rural Futures”.

Ngan and a volunteer organization went to poor rural areas in Thai Binh to meet and teach students. The students were eager for foreign language classes, participated diligently and achieved a 90% attendance rate.

In addition, Ngan also established a cultural exchange project between students and teachers of different countries, providing them with free English practice opportunities.

Hoang Ngan received the Chevening Scholarship certificate.

During the application preparation phase, Ngan worked 16 hours with the spirit of "if I don't do it now, I won't have time to do it anymore".

Being the CEO of an English center, running two social projects, and directly teaching, the 9X teacher starts her day at 5am. Ngan spends about 1 hour studying for IELTS and an hour jogging before breakfast. In the morning and afternoon, she works with departments from marketing, business, to human resources, Vietnamese and foreign partners.

In the evenings, Ngan focuses on her professional work such as preparing itineraries, writing books, teaching and training teachers; and finally, writing essays and preparing scholarship applications. Ngan spent 3 months writing her essay, rewriting it nearly ten times until she felt she had fully expressed herself in a total of 2,000 words.

Chevening requires applicants to write four essays: leadership, networking (what they have done and are doing), study plan and career plan (near and long term plans).

Hoang Ngan summarized herself with four keywords: educational leader, daring to change, comprehensive English learning, equal educational opportunities. “These things help my four essays become a closely linked story to convey to the scholarship board the image of an educational leader who dared to open a center and two social projects after seeing the shortcomings in foreign language teaching, aiming to comprehensively teach 4 skills to students in both urban and rural areas,” Ngan said.

In March 2024, the Vietnamese teacher was called by the British Chevening Council for a direct interview at the British Embassy. After a few months of waiting, Ngan received the Reserve candidate result in June 2024. The young teacher thought her chance had ended there because the official list of scholars for 2024 already had someone studying Education.

In July 2024, Hoang Ngan was surprised to receive notification that she had been shortlisted and became a prestigious Chevening scholar. “I couldn’t believe it! I had to call my supervisor right away to ask for help confirming whether the email was a scam or not,” she laughed as she recounted the moment her dream came true.

Hoang Ngan took a photo at the University of Bristol campus, UK.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Linh Yen, lecturer at Hanoi National University, assessed that Ngan is very suitable for the teaching profession, which was demonstrated even when she was in university, she had leadership qualities in managing volunteer activities and teaching centers in a very clear direction.

Dr. Duong Thi Nguyet, Principal of Thuy Binh Secondary School, Thai Binh Province - who witnessed Ngan organizing volunteer teaching activities commented: "Ngan is a very dedicated educational leader, always thinking about students. She has very good relationship building and persuasion skills when she can connect support to even remote rural areas."

Le Thu

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vuot-hon-100-000-ho-so-co-giao-ninh-binh-am-hoc-bong-kho-nhan-nhat-the-gioi-ar926974.html