A 16-year-old Wallington County Grammar School pupil has been shortlisted for a national playwriting competition.

Luke Berridge’s play, No Sympathy for the Devil, was shortlisted among 10 out of 300 entries by the National Theatre.

He will now have his play read out as part of this year’s New Views Festival later on July 13 as part of the event.

Luke said: “My favourite thing about the New Views programme was the freedom I had to experiment with different themes and characters and being able to explore whatever issues I wanted.

“Similar events that students can take part in school restrict us to one topic or theme so having this freedom for the first time was exciting.”

His play was also presented in front of a judging panel, while this year's shortlisted plays look into a range of issues such as immigration, sexuality, gender, and mental health.

James Graham, playwright and judge on this year’s panel, said, “There are so many challenges facing young people's access to the arts right now, so thank God something like the National Theatre's New Views exists.

"Its encouragement and mentoring of school age students to have the confidence to write a play is so important.

"I was taken aback by the talent and imagination, it was such a privilege to read a selection of them.”