Hannah Boyce is dancing for joy after winning the chance of following in the footsteps of film and TV stars Bill Nighy and Celia Imrie.

And the 18-year-old, who is a pupil at the Dance School Of Scotland at Knightswood Secondary, is celebrating after being awarded the highest ever marks by the internationally renowned Trinity Guildhall in London.

This year, 17 Knightswood students sat the exam – and 15 passed with Distinction.

But Hannah impressed judges to earn a score of 94% – the highest mark in all the years the exam has been held.

The result ensured that she received the marks needed to earn the prestigious Associate of the Trinity College London diploma qualification.

And she will be rewarded with letters after her name.

When you realise Trinity Guildhall carries out 500,000 assessments each year – graded examinations and certificates to diplomas and higher level vocational qualifications – from people worldwide, then it makes Hannah’s achievement all the more remarkable.

She performed a 25-minute monologue exploring mental health and including a speech from the film and play A Streetcar Named Desire.

Her unusual choice of songs and drama helped secure her the top marks.

The qualification is the equivalent of the first year of a degree course.

Hannah, from Milton of Campsie, near Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, said: “I wanted to look at split personalities and how they are misunderstood and not well perceived by people.

“It seems a bit off the wall, but I wanted to do something a bit different.

“I never expected to do so well. I am always quite hard on myself after performances and came out of the exam thinking the worst.

“But everyone from our course did really well.”

Their teacher Graeme Dickie said he was incredibly proud of how well his students performed in their exams. Mr Dickie said: “I don’t think people realise how tough this course is. Pupils have to do a 25-minute performance, which is basically a one-person show. The pressure on them is incredible.

“They all did very, very well and we are proud that more than 80% of our young people earned Distinction.

“And, of course, knowing Hannah scored the highest grade in the world is an impressive boast.”

During their performance exam, students must perform all genres of musical theatre, styles, songs and monologues. They also sit a written exam, which looks at health and safety, movement and voice.The qualification is the equivalent of the first year of a degree course.

It is normally for over-18s only but invigilators were impressed by the standard at Knightswood and decided to allow younger pupils to take part.

Musical theatre pupils are now rehearsing hard for their end of term show, Our House.

And Hannah will play the lead in the musical, which is based on the music of band Madness, to be held at the Citizens Theatre.

Having secured her qualification, Hannah – who now has the letters ATCL after her name – is planning to move to London to attend the Guildford School Of Acting.

She joined Knightswood’s performing arts course in third year after deciding she wanted to act for a living.

Hannah says she will miss school, but can’t wait to start university. She added: “I am looking forward to moving to London, although I’m not sure what I will do at the end of my course: acting on TV or the stage or in films. I want to perform and get applause for doing my job - that’s my goal.”

• Our House, June 9-12 at the Citizens Theatre, £12 (£10 concessions). 0141 429 0022 or at: www.citz.co.uk

Marcus, 17, is heading to the Fame school

He may still only be 17 but Marcus Guy is about to hit the Fame trail.

The teenager from Knightswood Secondary School has won a four-year placement at the prestigious performing arts school that gave Irene Cara, inset below, a taste of stardom and was the inspiration for the hit musical Fame.

Marcus had to make two trips to New York for the audition process to win one of just 15 highly sought after places at the Juilliard School.

But he now faces a funding battle if he is to complete his course because a degree costs nearly £30,000 a year – that’s £120,000 in all.

He said: “I have always wanted to go to Juilliard. Competition to get in is really fierce and I still can’t believe I’m going.”

Marcus flew to New York for the first round of auditions in January. He performed two mono-logues and a song as 150 other young people also tried to win a place.

He then faced an agonising wait for the school’s bosses to pin the names of shortlisted candidates up in the school.

Those chosen from the original group then had to perform again – this time for the entire faculty.

Marcus then flew home to Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, to wait for the next stage in the audition process.

After making it through to the next round, he and his dad, John Allan, flew back to New York, where Marcus took place in an audition weekend.

Marcus added: “I was invited back for the audition weekend, where they tried to find out whether they had a group that would mix well and get on.

“I was so nervous because everyone there was very deserving of a place at Juilliard.

“When I got home after that second weekend it felt like a really, really long wait to find out what would happen next.”

Bosses from the school phoned Marcus at home to tell him he had been successful in securing a place.

He says he was so amazed they called him personally that he was almost speechless.

Marcus said: “I didn’t know what to say except ‘thanks’. I think I said it quite a few times!”

Parents Sandra, 48, and John Allan, 55, are helping fund the course, but Marcus is now looking for help to pay for its studies.

He will jet to America in September to take up his position, where he will have classes from 9am-9pm every day.

Marcus is only the second student from Knightswood to go to Juilliard, following in the footsteps of former pupil Gayle Rankin.