Celebrations are in order for a St Albans teenager who has just released her second EP, and been offered a place at a music college in London.

In between working hard on her GCSEs, Hope Russell-Winter, a Year 11 pupil at Sandringham School, has been working on her EP, Optimist, released on Monday (7).

The 16 year old has also recently been offered an unconditional place at The Institute in Kilburn, a place which boasts a lengthy list of successful alumni in entertainment, enrolling on the access to music course.

Hope, who sings while playing the piano, describes her musical endeavours as a creative outlet.

She has proved such a success that her Optimist EP launch at St Albans Town Hall this Saturday (12) has sold out already.

Hope said: “My first EP was a learning experience, as I hadn’t done that sort of thing before. I have put a lot of hard work into Optimist – music has always been an escape for me.”