Two King’s Ely students have secured places on the National Youth Theatre (NYT) programme.

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Billy Pinto, who is in Year 13, and Tom Bateman, who is in Year 11, auditioned back in January by submitting a recording of themselves performing a monologue.

They were then asked to respond to some questions about themselves and why they wanted to be involved with NYT.

As part of the second round of auditions, Tom and Billy were invited to join a Zoom call with an NYT ambassador.

While on video, they performed their monologue again in various different ways, as well as answering more questions about themselves and their love of performing.

Billy and Tom, have now been invited to take part in NYT’s starter courses later this year.

They will get to meet other NYT actors, participate in workshops and potentially feature in NYT shows that are staged each year.

Tom said: “This is a small step closer to me one day hopefully achieving my dream of becoming an actor.

"I enjoy working with others and channelling myself into a different character in a kind of escape when taking part in performing arts."

Billy added: “I am very excited. I know people who have been part of NYT and they say it was the best experience of their life, and that it was massively rewarding.”

Nick Huntington, director of drama and theatre at King’s Ely, said: “Billy and Tom have worked very hard preparing audition pieces at the same time as undergoing an enormous number of academic tests and extra-curricular rehearsals.

"All credit to them for their energy and resilience – they both thoroughly deserve this incredible opportunity.”