In a first for the UK institution, Dubai quadruplets have graduated from the Oxford Brookes University with different degrees.
Ayah, Abdelrahim, Osama and Ahmad Shaaban, 20, had arrived in Oxford from Dubai in 2018 and joined Oxford Brookes with Osama opting for law, Ayah for interior architecture, Abdelrahim for accounting and finance, and Ahmad for business and management.
The siblings adjusted to life at university and with four of them together it became easy for them to adapt to new life. It was harder for Osama, who was homesick initially. He said support from staff and peers made the “transition more swift.”
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In February 2019, Ayah was admitted to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital for a month after becoming sick.
The siblings also prospered academically with Ayah working on real-life projects, which included designing a tree house, and Osama was top of his cohort of law students and also won a mock trial competition. He said that the judge remarked, “ We made history today with our first quadruplets to attend a court hearing.’” Ahmad won the Oxford Brookes Spark Award for his start-up idea.
During the coronavirus pandemic, siblings flew home to Dubai in March 2020 where they completed their degrees online.
Now the quadruplets are ready to move on to the next phase of their lives.
Osama aims to qualify as a solicitor in England after a master’s in law and a legal practice course to work in a London firm before returning to Dubai. Ahmad wants to become a technology consultant in the UK after a master’s in information technology and AI, while Abdelrahim’s ambition is to become a chartered financial analyst and work in private equity after a master’s degree in finance. Their sister Ayah has set sights on a job with a top architecture firm.
