A teenage mum who gave birth at the age of 15 and was told her life was “ruined” returned to education to complete her A-levels.

Heather Cartwright, 19, collected her results from Witham Sixth Form today (Aug 18) and achieved an A in English, a B in classic civilisation, and a D in biology.

After giving birth to son James, now four, Heather returned to school after 10 months and proved her doubters wrong.

She said: ““A lot of people said I’d ruined my life, but becoming a mum made it all the more important for me to prove I could do it.

“Juggling motherhood and education, to me, is no different to other mums juggling work and children. Raising a child is tough, no matter how old you are.”

Heather will start a job tutoring from September at New Rickstones Academy, in Witham, and after a year, is considering an Open University course or an apprenticeship to step into the teaching profession.

Heather, who now lives alone with her son, added: “I was always going to go back to education. Having a child made it important as I have to provide for him. I’m lucky in that I’ve had lots of family support and my teachers have been great. He has had to go to nursery full-time, which was tough, but this is important for us in the long-run.

“I want James to have the same enthusiasm for education and to see how lucky he is to have it. It was a fight for me to go back to school, so I want him to appreciate it.

“I am really proud I got my A-levels done. A lot of people comment how rare it is for a young mum to go back to education so it’s great to prove it’s possible.”