A teenager who has coped with bereavement, ill-health and great personal responsibilities has won the national Vocational Achievement Award in Education and could yet become the UK's Outstanding Student of the Year.

Mark Szortowski, 18, who has worked as a classroom assistant at a school in Malvern, lost his mother Hilary to cancer two years ago.

Shortly afterwards, he heard that his grandmother June had also been diagnosed with cancer.

Mr Szortowski, who suffers from dyspraxia, which can lead to poor balance and a lack of manual dexterity, threw himself into studying for a national diploma in public services at Worcester College of Technology and working as community volunteer.

He said: "I've exceedingly high stan- dards for myself and put a great deal of effort into every single piece of work."

To win the Vocational Achievement Award, Mr Szortowski, who lives in Ledbury, was one of just six shortlisted candidates.

He gets £1,000 to be spent on an educational activity or item of his choice and a further £1,000 for his college.

Pat Lovell, college head of business and office technology, said: "Mr Szortowski has shown great determination."

Volunteering as a classroom assistant at the Wyche CE Primary School in Malvern has given the teenager the ambition to be a teacher.

He said: "I went to the school for work experience and fell in love with the profession."

Mr Szortowski, as well as being a volunteer for the Ledbury branch of the British Red Cross, helps to look after his younger brother and sister, Paul and Louise, both 16. He drives them to and from the family home in Browning Road to school in Hereford.

Mr Szortowski's father, Malcolm, works for an oil company and has to travel abroad every month.

The teenager also takes his grandparents out in the car. His grandfather, Harold, has a heart condition.

Mr Szortowski runs a youth club every Friday at Gorsley Baptist Church and said it is his Christian faith that has helped him to carry on.

He has achieved distinctions in all his first year course modules. On June 14 he will be interviewed in London for the Outstanding Student of the Year Award by a panel which includes former hostage Terry Waite. The prize is £8,000 split between student and college.