EVERY student is nervous about picking up their A level results but this Barry Comprehensive pupil had more riding on his results than most.

Thomas Stoneman, 18, is hoping to pursue a career in neuroscience - ultimately as a means of helping his twin sister Lizzy who suffers from various neurological problems that have yet remained undiagnosed.

Lizzy has special needs and suffers from problems such as epilepsy and mild autism among others.

Thomas said that his interest in the subject of neuroscience was sparked by a desire to learn more about his sister's undiagnosed issues.

"Even now we haven't got a diagnosis of what's wrong," he said.

"I've always found it interesting to try and find out about it. I'm interested in everything from the cognitive aspect of it, how things work in the brain, through to the psychology side of it.

"It's something I really enjoy and hopefully I may be able to help her in the long term."

In order to study neuroscience at Cardiff University, Thomas needed two A grades and a B to get onto the course.

Needless to say, the wait for his results was a particularly agonising one.

Thomas was delighted to find out that he had achieved an A* in Maths, an A in Biology and a B in English Language.

It wasn't just Thomas who breathed a sigh of relief though.

"Mum and dad were really happy," he said. "We even had neighbours knocking the door to see how I'd done."