From Four Fs and Three Es to Oxford: Meet the Ghanaian who teaches at Oxford University

Dr George Asiamah’s academic journey has taken him from completely failing his Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) to teaching at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Recounting his journey to Kafui Dey, Asiamah, now a tutor at Exeter College, University of Oxford, said he completed his SSCE in 2003 but received four Fs and three Es in the seven subjects he wrote.

He said the result came as a shock because he had performed well at the basic school level in his village and was the best candidate in his Junior High School (JHS), with an aggregate of 22.

“I finished my SSCE in 2003, and I had my PHD in 2023. So, in the SSCE, I wrote seven subjects, and I had four Fs and three Es,” he said.

Asiamah recalled the moment his headmistress handed him his results slip, saying that although he knew he had not performed well in the examination, he did not expect the results to be that poor.

“She looked at it, but then she didn't say a word, just handed it to me. Then I looked at it, was just staring at it, and as I said, I was expecting to fail, but then not this failure. So like, I lost myself, and I didn't know where I was standing at the time,” he recalled.

After the setback, Asiamah said he had to take up different jobs to survive, including working as a shoe shine boy, selling secondhand clothes in Kumasi, and working as a shop attendant.

Despite the difficult start, he continued his education through to the tertiary level and eventually moved to the United Kingdom for further studies.

He later earned his PhD in 2023 and now teaches Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Exeter College, one of the colleges that make up the University of Oxford.

Asiamah said his current position still feels unreal, especially because his first visit to Oxford was as a tourist in 2014 while studying for his master's degree in Belfast.

“I went to Oxford as a tourist, because that's an academic city, and once you're in the UK, you want to have a feel of it,” he said.

More than a decade later, he returned to Oxford in a different role, this time as a tutor with his own office.

“Fast forward from 2014 to 2025, I'm no longer just as a tourist or as a visitor, but I have an office space,” he shared.

Asiamah, who is based at Exeter College, also mentioned its Ghanaian connection, noting that it is where former President John Agyekum Kufuor obtained his first degree.

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