Ashton attended the Anna Scher Theatre School and National Youth Theatre, and is a graduate of the Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre.Ashton started acting at the age of six.Her television work includes Holby City, EastEnders, The Bill, NCS: Manhunt, Casualty and The Crust. Her theatre credits include Rhinoceros, The Arsonists, Gone Too Far! (Royal Court), Othello (Globe Theatre), and The Cage (Nuffield Theatre Company, Southampton). In 2009 she worked on the films Blitz and St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.Ashton began entering poetry slams at the age of seventeen,and won the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000.In 2006 she was Young Writer in Residence at the Contact Theatre in Manchester.Her first play, Harm's Way, was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 2007,and premiered at The Lowry in 2008 as part of National Youth Theatre’s new writing season.She is currently under commission to the Bush Theatre and the Clean Break theatre company. Ashton was named as one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow 2009.(from wikipedia)