A former John Masefield High School pupil has won the offer of a coveted place to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre.

Holly Jones, 17, would take one of just 15 places a year available at the theatre and will study for a bachelor of arts degree in stage management in its Dance and Drama Academy.

Her portfolio impressed academy tutors so much, that she has been offered a place dependent on only two Es at A'Level, from a field of around 60.

Miss Jones is currently studying for A'Levels in law, community studies, general studies and theatre studies at Hereford Sixth Form College.

But it was while she was a GCSE student at the John Masefield High School, a designated Government arts college, that the theatrical bug bit hard.

She said: "I was involved in all the plays there, Bugsy Malone, Oklahoma, The Tempest, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

"The school turned into an arts college while I was there, I wanted to be a doctor, but changed my mind. The school was very useful for me."

Miss Jones also helped to build her portfolio as a member of the youth theatre group at the Courtyard arts centre in Hereford.

She is also on work placement with the BBC at Evesham, where she benefits from media master classes and use of the editing suite.

The teenager says she is happy working behind the scenes and has the ambition to be a floor manager for television or a stage manager with a theatre.

She added: "I'm not tempted to go into acting. Only a handful of people are going to be called the next Julia Roberts."

Miss Jones' other great interest is rugby and she plays for the West Midlands region under-18s side.