TEENAGER Thomas Cotran is so happy, he just wants to sing and dance with joy.

For Thomas, 18, of Mountjoy Road, Edgerton, has just beaten 3,000 other hopefuls to get one of eight English places at the prestigious Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

The teenager has been awarded a place on the three-year BA Musical Theatre degree course. The Academy has also nominated him for Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship Award.

He leaves Huddersfield for Glasgow on September 24 where he will be among some of Europe’s most talented young performers. Former students include Dr Who David Tennant and film star James McAvoy.

Thomas had to undergo a gruelling selection process involving three trips to Scotland with his family and three auditions before he convinced the Academy selectors that he was worth the place.

The process began over six months ago when he travelled north for his first audition. He was competing against hundreds of other young people selected from the 3,000 applicants.

Thomas began his theatrical training at Oscar’s Theatre Academy in New North Road, when he was seven years old. There he has learned singing, dancing and acting. He also plays the drums and the piano.

For his first Academy audition, he had to learn a challenging dance, the weakest of all of his disciplines, and sing three songs.

At the second audition, he had an hour’s one-on-one work with a member of staff. He also sang again, played the piano, performed classical monologues and provided a video of his drum playing.

For his third interview, Thomas, a pupil at Wakefield’s Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) had to prepare and perform an imaginative story, which involved text, dance, songs, movement and playing a musical instrument.

“It has been so stressful,” said Thomas. “It has been a nightmare.

“It’s not just the auditions, but having to prepare so much material and performances to make sure you are better than anyone else was so tough, not to mention the mass of paperwork.”

A week after the final audition, a letter arrived from the Academy. His mother, Amanda, and grandmother both burst into tears before he had even opened the envelope.

Thomas said: “I was praying to get the place. I opened the letter and just read the first word ‘congratulations’ and told mum and grandma straight away. It was fantastic and they were over the moon.

“I felt so relieved, it had been such a tough process. I’m really looking forward to it, but am absolutely petrified as well!”

His parents Amanda and Marc, managing director of Charles Clayton textiles in Bradford, have supported him all the way. Thomas, an only child, said: “I can’t even begin to thank mum and dad enough. I absolutely love my chosen profession, but it is so tough and competitive. Having a good family behind you is one of the key things in life.

“I couldn’t have done it without the staff at Oscar’s either, they went the extra mile and it has been a wonderful experience for me.”

Oscar’s principal Paula Danholm, said: “To achieve what Thomas has done in his first year of auditioning is quite amazing.

“He is a very talented young man, but he has also worked immensely hard for this and I am sure will have a long career ahead of him.”

The final word on the future goes to Thomas: “I would like to look back and say that I have worked on stage, screen, film, radio and TV. I know it’s ambitious, but it could happen ... step by step.”

Thomas played a farewell performance at St Paul’s concert hall in Queensgate last weekend when he was the leading man in Les Miserables.