HANNAH Farron lost her sight at the age of five.

But she has overcome her disability with a string of top exam grades and selection for a national sports squad.

The Mathern teenager, pictured, chalked up an A* grade for a short GCSE course in religious education, A grades in French, German, English language, English literature, music and history, a B grade in double science and a C grade in maths.

She has also been selected for the Great Britain women's squad in goalball, a popular sport for the visually impaired.

Hannah, aged 16, boards at the Royal National Institute for the Blind's New College, in Worcester. She returns there next week to begin her A-levels.

"I was very surprised. I wasn't expecting to get those grades," she said of her GCSE successes.

"I was hoping to pass them all, but I didn't expect A grades, especially in history and music."

Hannah revised using Braille textbooks and audio tapes. She and around 20 others who sat the exams had a volunteer sitting with them to write down answers to questions.

Her A-level subjects will be religious education, history, law and English literature.

"I want to go to university, but I'm not sure what I want to study yet, so I'm keeping my options open," said Hannah, whose brother, Ross, is about to start his GCSE courses, and whose sister, Laura, is already at university in Plymouth.

The return to the college also involves a move into its sixth-form hostel, designed to develop independence and confidence.

"It's to encourage people to do more for themselves, which will be important, especially if I get to university," said Hannah.

She is also determined to keep up her sporting commitments, which often means staying at the college at weekends instead of coming home to visit parents Angela and Keith.

Goalball is a three-a-side team sport, played on a pitch 18 metres long and nine metres wide, with similarities to volleyball, though the action is all ground-based.

Hannah has travelled widely, notably to Florida, Sweden, Denmark and Spain, with the British Youth Squad, but her elevation to the full squad keeps alive a dream of going to the Paralympics. The next games are in Athens in 2004.

"That would be brilliant, but they are a long way away. I'm just thrilled to be in the squad at the moment," she said.