Syrian refugee tops year 12 class after just two years of learning English.

Saad al-Kassab has endured life experiences some Australian children will never have to encounter – and the teenager has proven there are no obstacles to success.

The 19-year-old arrived in Australia in mid-2014 with his parents and three siblings after fleeing the war his Syrian hometown of Homs. He was today named as dux of Melbourne’s Catholic Regional College Sydenham after earning an ATAR score of 96.65.

“I’m feeling overwhelmed and so happy,” he told 9NEWS today.

“It was really hard for me [to learn English] and I felt like I didn’t know anything. I couldn’t talk to anybody but I really wanted to join a school so I started learning English.

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Saad said one of the ways he taught himself was watching Question Time in parliament and joining the Scouts. He was unable to attend school in Syria as they were either destroyed, had become army bases, or were subject to shelling.

“It wasn’t easy for me to understand, but I was able to separate the words… I find politics fascinating,” he said.

“[In Syria] I felt like my future was getting away from me, so what I did was, I bought books for year 9 and year 10 and I studied at home with my mum, who is a highly educated person.”

After a gardening job at the school last summer, he was given a year 12 scholarship.

He has already received an offer to study medicine at Monash University to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor after witnessing horrific injuries and deaths in his home country.

“It makes me so proud and appreciative of the opportunities Catholic Regional College has given me,” he said.