WHEN Sarah Boddy is not playing her electric guitar, violin or mandolin, she is usually line dancing, coaching an all-girl football team or practising for her pilot's licence.

So, when the multi-talented youngster, from Lytham St Annes High School heard she had been offered a place at Oxford University, it was no more than she deserved.

Sarah has been accepted to study Biological Sciences at Oxford, provided she gets the necessary A level grades in June.

Beaming, laid-back Sarah didn't think she had done anything extraordinary at all. She said: "I've always done lots of things so I'm used to being busy. I just get on with it."

But proud teacher Maura Elliot was over the moon about Sarah's success. She said: "Sarah is full of surprises. She is very modest about all her achievements.

"Not only is she very dedicated to her work, but she throws herself in to lots of other activities too. Its amazing how she does it all.

"It was only recently for instance, that I found out that Sarah was an avid line dancer, when she organised all the other girls at school to dance for charity.

"Sarah doesn't go on about what she does and suddenly you find out she has yet another amazing talent."

For now though, Sarah will be concentrating on her work, to get those all-important A level grades to secure her place at Oxford.

She said: "As well as wanting to get my full pilot's licence, my other ambition is to become a research scientist.

"I am very interested in plants and in doing research into diseases."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.