Dr George Asiamah, a Ghanaian political economist and lecturer at Exeter College, University of Oxford, has recounted how failing his Senior Secondary School Certificate Exams (SSSCE), now known as the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), did not stop him from pursuing his academic ambitions.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Dr Asiamah reflected on his academic journey from growing up in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region to becoming an academic at the University of Oxford.

His journey began with a degree in Economics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He later studied at Queen’s University Belfast as a Commonwealth Scholar and at the University of Sheffield as a Grantham Scholar before completing his PhD in 2023.

He now teaches political theory, comparative politics and political economy at Exeter College, where he is a fellow, tutor and lecturer.

But his academic journey took a difficult turn much earlier.

In 2003, Dr Asiamah sat his secondary school examinations and received four Fs and three Es. He said he expected to perform poorly in some subjects but was not prepared for the results he eventually received.

His results showed Fs in Mathematics, English Language, Economics and Geography, while he obtained Es in Integrated Science, Social Studies and Government.

“I was expecting to fail some subjects, but then I thought I'd get some D's or C's in it...So, I lost myself, and I didn't know where I was standing at the time,” he recalled.

At the time, he was a day student and the only person from his village attending secondary school. He had to commute about five kilometres to school, while the village itself lacked basic amenities.

Dr Asiamah admitted that he had stopped attending school regularly during the period leading up to the examinations, particularly during the mock examination period.

“I was not attending school at a point in time because I was a day student and I happened to be the only person from my village attending secondary school.

'So I would stay in the house. I wouldn't go to. So during the mock exam period, I just go right and come back and then stay. I wouldn't go to campus again.
I was just back home playing, just doing nothing basically,” he recounted.

According to him, receiving the results was a painful experience for him. He recalled leaving with the results and walking back to his village, unsure of what the future held.

“That was the first disgrace I experienced...I can't even remember how I got to my village and I just folded it,” he narrated.

The setback, however, did not bring his education to an end.

Dr Asiamah continued his studies, eventually progressing from university to postgraduate education and completing his PhD in 2023.

Reflecting on the distance between his examination results and his current position, he said the experience has made him look differently at his academic journey.

"It was basically 20 years apart. I finished my SSSE in 2003," he recounted.

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His first encounter with Oxford came in 2014, when he visited the university city as a tourist while studying for his master's degree in Belfast.

By 2025, he had returned to Oxford in a very different capacity, this time as an academic with an office at Exeter College.

“My first time I went to Oxford was in 2014 when I started my master's degree. And if I fast forward from 2014 to 2025, then I'm there no longer just as a tourist or as a visitor, but then I have an office space.

“I'm working with Exeter College at the University of Oxford and Oxford operates the collegiate system where you have more than 50 colleges operating autonomously, but then they all come together to form the University of Oxford," he added.

JKB/EB

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