Sebastian Carvello

Biological Sciences BSc student at Imperial College London with previous management experience in a multinational education nonprofit

London, UK

Undergrad Work ↗ | LinkedIn ↗

seb@carvello.me | sebastian.carvello23@imperial.ac.uk

Hi, I'm Seb.

I'm currently studying Biological Sciences at Imperial College London, specialising in Ecology and Conservation Biology.

Prior to that I worked in various roles at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a subsidiary of the University of Cambridge. My final post before leaving the company to begin my studies was Lead Advisor for Cambridge Assessment International Education, an exam board and the world's largest provider of international education programmes and qualifications for learners worldwide.

Education

Imperial College London

London, UK

Ranked #1 in Europe and #2 globally (QS 2026)

Bachelor of Science - BSc

Sep 2023 - Jun 2026

Biological Sciences

Current grade: 1st (Dean's List)

Applications to places ratio - 9:1

Modules

Y1: Biological Chemistry & Microbiology; Evolution & Diversity; Cell Biology & Genetics; Ecology & Evolution; Mathematics for Biological Sciences; Programming; Statistics
Y2: Applied Molecular Biology; Genetics; Bioinformatics, Programming & Statistics; Personalised Medicine (taught by staff from the National Heart & Lung Institute); Essentials of Ecology; Behavioural Ecology; Tutored Dissertation ('Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Terrestrial Vertebrates,' supervised by Dr Cris Banks-Leite, mark: 95%); Ecology Field Skills
Y3: African Biology Field Course; Biodiversity & Conservation Biology; Global Change Biology; Final Year Research Project

For a more in-depth look into some of the fields I studied, please see my archive of some of the projects from my undergrad at Imperial: Undergrad Work ↗

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Stephen Perse Foundation

Cambridge, UK

A-levels

A*, A*, A*

Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics

Activities and societies: Theory of Knowledge (IB, first year)

Was awarded the Foundation's Mathematics Prize during L6, in addition to the Poulton Prize (for outstanding academic performance in a student considering studying Medicine or Veterinary Medicine at university)

Achieved a Distinction in the Elite category of the University of Oxford and Raspberry Pi's Bebras Computing Challenge

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Sancton Wood School

Cambridge, UK

GCSEs

Ten grade 9s

English Literature, English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Spanish, Religious Studies - all at grade 9

Activities and societies: Head Boy, Chair of Student Council, House and Vice Captain

Represented the school in football, rugby, cross country and swimming teams

Received the ISA Whitbread Memorial Prize (awarded annually to one student from one of the ISA's over 600 member schools across the UK) for "outstanding involvement in, and service to, community life, in addition to the achievement of academic excellence at GCSE" at the House of Lords

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Programming languages

Python

Taught at Imperial College London (plus additional self-teaching)

Applications in my degree programme included developing simulations of mixed wild type and mutant Drosophila populations to investigate the effects of genetic drift and natural selection on allele frequencies over multiple generations, incorporating differential fecundities to model population dynamics.

Taught at Imperial College London (plus additional self-teaching)

Applications in my degree programme included:

Analysing self-collected data on ring-necked parakeet distribution across London to assess the viability of a number of popular theories on their introduction to the city.
Analysing pooled quadrat data on plant species found in London's parks and green spaces to explore whether the density of plant species is related to park size.
Analysing and visualising an expansive, multi-decade dataset from Imperial's Silwood Park campus to examine the relationship between mean monthly spring temperature and the budding progress of oak trees, creating and validating two different statistical models.

Experience

Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge, UK (global headquarters)

The world's largest exam board, delivering international A-levels, GCSEs and more to over 10,000 schools in more than 160 countries. A division of Cambridge University Press & Assessment (a non-profit subsidiary of the University of Cambridge).

Lead Advisor

Jun 2023 - Aug 2023

Had responsibility for the QC process and associated operations for around 100,000 marked exam scripts from around the world, training and directing a team of Advisors and providing instruction and guidance to a team of around 40 checkers and supervisors, coordinating work and resources to meet strict contractual deadlines held with centres and foreign governments, and collecting and reporting performance metrics to senior management. Left to begin BSc Biological Sciences at Imperial College London, writing new internal procedural documentation for the team and developing novel automations to improve accuracy and efficiency before my departure to ensure a smooth transition.

Advisor

Nov 2022 - Jun 2023

Jul 2024

Evaluated and signed off on the outcome and mark changes of thousands of marked exam scripts raised by the QC team, trained new team members, supervised colleagues' work, and suggested improvements to GCSE and A-level mark schemes, working to tight deadlines with a need for incredible accuracy. Was promoted to Lead Advisor following my first exam series as an Advisor. Returned during my university vacation to assist the new team during the peak of the Summer 2024 series.

Enquiries About Results Reports Team

Aug 2022 - Oct 2022

Roles included preparing examiner reports to send to centres and foreign governments, training new staff, advanced use of Microsoft Office and the company’s proprietary exam processing system, conducting supervisor review checks and providing constructive feedback and guidance when needed, updating shared internal resources and writing new team guidance documents, identifying optimisations and improvements in internal procedures, and apportioning work to and liaising with examiners and Product Managers.

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Cambridge English

Cambridge, UK (DC10 processing centre)

The world's leading and largest provider of English language assessments, delivering over 5 million exams annually to learners around the world. A division of Cambridge University Press & Assessment (a non-profit subsidiary of the University of Cambridge).

EFL Exam Marker

Aug 2022

Marked the Reading & Writing and Listening English as a Foreign Language (EFL) exam scripts of students from around the world.

Verifier Monitor

Jun 2022 - Jul 2022

Quality checked the work of the organisation’s team of verifiers (team members who manually intervene when necessary in the optical character recognition (OCR) software used to process candidate scripts), correcting their work and providing constructive feedback to verifiers when appropriate, to ensure candidates received the grade they deserved. This involved consistent and meticulous attention to detail and accuracy. Consistently exceeded the daily KPI, at times doubling it.

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Honours & awards

Biological Sciences Dean's List 2024/25

Issued by the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London

Recognising the top-performing 10% of students in the cohort

ISA Whitbread Memorial Prize

Issued by the Independent Schools Association

Awarded annually to one nominated student from one of the ISA's over 600 member schools across the UK for "outstanding involvement in, and service to, community life, in addition to the achievement of academic excellence at GCSE"

Presented by Lord Lexden MBE and ISA CEO Neil Roskilly at the House of Lords

Stephen Perse Foundation Mathematics Prize

Issued by the Stephen Perse Foundation

Stephen Perse Foundation Poulton Prize

Issued by the Stephen Perse Foundation

For outstanding academic performance in a student considering studying Medicine or Veterinary Medicine at university

UK Bebras Computing Challenge (Elite Level) - Certificate of Distinction

Issued by the University of Oxford / Raspberry Pi