Three students from China won a chance-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study in Cambridge after getting the top scores in the Cambridge ESOL Business English Certificates (BEC).
Chai Liang from Beijing, Duan Zhixiang from Xi’an and Xin Zhang from Harbin won a chance to study English for two weeks at Embassy CES, Cambridge, in a competition organised by Cambridge ESOL and sponsored by Embassy CES and Cambridge University Press.
Of the tens of thousands of people who took BEC in China, the top 30 candidates in each of two BEC test sessions were invited to take part in the competition to win the prize.
The entrants had to give a presentation on a business English theme at regional semi-finals, with winners being invited to make a second presentation at the final in Beijing.
All three winning students said they enjoyed studying in England: ‘This has been such a surprise for me, I am having a great time with my new friends, it has been very inspiring,’ said Duan.
‘The buildings here are very old, and so well preserved – there is a lot of history here, but it is also such a vibrant place with people carrying out the very latest research,’ said Chai.
Duan and Xin also said they had selected BEC because they felt it would help their careers.
Chai said taking BEC had already helped her find a good job with international accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers:
‘I don’t have an economics or finance background, but being able to speak English well has been very helpful as English is the language of international business.’
As well as their two weeks of classroom study, the three winners also had the chance to take an excursion to London and enjoy a reception and dinner at Sidney Sussex College, one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge.