DETERMINED Elly Haigh is heading to a top university after securing two As and two A*s despite battling a brain tumour throughout her sixth form years.

The 18-year-old, from Cholsey, has lost all her sight in one eye, and half her vision in the other as a result of the illness.

The Wallingford School pupil was first diagnosed with the malign tumour five years ago after complaining of worsening vision to her optician.

As she prepared for her GCSEs, medics told her she would need a draining course of chemotherapy to beat the tumour.

She said: “I have lost a lot of my sight, and that has made studying a bit more difficult, and I was on chemotherapy throughout most of my AS and A-Level years.

“The teachers have been really good and helped me through it, and my friends rallied round.”

In October, she was told she needed no further treatment.

And yesterday she celebrated As in physics and French and A*s in maths and further maths, as she learnt she had secured her place at Southampton University.

Headteacher Wyll Willis said: “Many would have put their A-Level studies to the back of their mind or been happy to achieve a half decent set of results.

“But Elly continued to set herself very demanding standards while coming to terms with challenges she will face for the rest of her life.”

Elly’s mum Heather Haigh said: “We are very, very proud of her.”