A TEENAGER who lost his niece to cancer in the middle of his studies has managed to pull through and make the grade.

Sophie Whipp, 15, from Greater Leys, Oxford, was studying for her GCSEs at the Oxford Academy when she died of leukaemia in January 2010.

Her uncle, Ross Whipp, now 18, from Littlemore, was devastated and missed school coming to terms with his loss. But yesterday, Ross, pictured, picked up two merits and a pass in his BTEC diploma in sports – the equivalent of two Bs and a C at A-Level.

He had been in the middle of his first year when Sophie died. He said: “All the teachers comforted me.

“They were really flexible and had faith in me to catch up with everybody else.”

He is planning to go to university.