AN ASPIRING young actor has landed a place at a prestigious drama school after beating 6,000 applicants all vying for just 30 places.

Earlier this month, 21-year-old Sam Stafford discovered he had been accepted into the world-famous London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which has trained such stars as Jim Broadbent, Patricia Hodge and David Suchet.

Sam, who lives near the Orbital Shopping Park with mum Katie, has been acting since he was five and for the past 16 years he has been developing his craft with the Swindon Young Actors, an experience he describes as “incredible” and “life-changing”.

“SYA is the reason why I’ve got to where I am,” said Sam. “It helped me develop my confidence as a performer and as a person.”

Sam, who spent four years studying performing arts at Cirencester College, has Type 1 diabetes and is determined not to let the condition affect his chances of success.

“Nine times out of 10, I’m in control of my diabetes,” he said. "But sometimes, especially if I get ill, it can make things worse. I think the next couple of years will be tough but I’m confident I’ll be alright.”

In April he attended an audition for a place at LAMDA, which involved performing two monologues – a Shakespearean and a modern one – singing a song and participating in a duologue with a previous LAMDA graduate.

He currently works at Marks & Spencer at the Outlet Centre to make a bit of pocket money before his big move to London in September, and he described his agonising wait to find out if he had been accepted.

“It was about three weeks ago. I was at work and just happened to look at my phone and I noticed I had a missed call from a London number.

“I thought, well, it’ll either be LAMDA or someone selling PPI. I called back, found it was the school and was told that the person I needed to speak to wasn’t available at the moment and I should call back later.

“That meant I had to work the next five hours on pins, waiting to find out if I’d been accepted. In the end, they said they’d love to have me there and my mum screamed down the phone at me when I told her.

“I’m so excited, it’s going to be incredible. People have been so supportive and very encouraging and my plan is to get the most out of the next three years. I want to have fun and try to inspire others.”

The LAMDA course lasts three years, is the equivalent of a BA (Hons) degree and is intended to push students to their limits.

Ever willing to throw himself into new challenges, Sam said: "I haven’t done a lot of TV acting yet, so I’d like to give that a shot.

"This is a huge opportunity and I just want to be able to look back on my career knowing I gave everything a go."