TO millions of TV viewers, Barry Hollinshead was the son of the infamous Geordie layabout Oz in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

But in reality, Barry went on to follow in his screen father's footsteps, leaving school with few qualifications and ending up in jobs on building sites around the region.

But an amazing 12 months has seen Barry produce a turnaround in his life that would inspire even the writers of the famous TV show he once appeared in.

After enrolling on a foundation course at North Tyneside College, Barry has achieved a string of top marks and been named the college's student of the year.

The 31-year-old father-of-three has also received three offers of university places and in September will take up a place on a degree in biomedical sciences at Northumbria University.

Barry, who lives in Banbury Way in Percy Main, North Shields, with his wife, Tracey, and three children, became well known in 1985 when, as a pupil at Benfield Comprehensive, he was chosen to play Oz's son, Rodney, in the first series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

But he let his studies slide in the years after his TV fame.

In November 2002 he had an accident at work and ended up losing two fingertips.

He said: "I was sitting around feeling sorry for myself and at that stage I realised I wanted more out of life. I decided I wanted a career change but I didn't have the qualifications. All I had was a GCSE in drama.

"Fortunately my wife helped me and I started an HFEC course at North Tyneside college."

He is now hoping that a degree in biomedical sciences will help him get a job in scientific research.