A RELUCTANT ballet student who overcame her doubts has been awarded one of the country's top dance scholarships.

Rebecca Ward, 14, from West Cornforth, County Durham, a pupil at Durham High School for Girls, has been given a Government- sponsored scholarship with the Elmhurst School of Ballet, in Birmingham.

The scholarship is for a student who has shown exceptional potential in classical ballet and will fund her fees until she leaves school.

It is a remarkable achievement for a teenager who showed little interest when first urged to attend classes at the age of nine by her mum.

Once she started, she developed a love of classical ballet and attended weekly lessons.

In recent times, she has travelled each week to the dance school Scholars, in York, which is associated with the Royal Ballet. She is taught by former principals of the Royal Ballet School. It was at the York school that Rebecca was spotted by a guest teacher, who asked her to audition for Elmhurst.

She did and was offered the funded place within two days.

Ann Templeman, the headmistress of Durham High School, said: "We are absolutely thrilled about Rebecca's fantastic achievement. We very much hope she will return to perform for us in the future.''

However, the chance to take up one of only a handful of top ballet scholarships which are awarded each year is tinged with sadness for Rebecca.

She said: "I am really upset to leave Durham High School because I will miss my friends and teachers but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which I really must take."