

Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai has told an education conference that she has received an offer to study at a UK university.

The 19-year-old is currently preparing for her A-Levels at a girls’ school in Birmingham.

She told the auditorium, also in Birmingham, that she had received an offer, conditional of achieving three As, to study politics, philosophy and economics (PPE).

But Yousafzai, who narrowly avoided death in 2012 after being shot by the Pakistani Taliban for her outspoken campaigning over girls’ rights to an education, kept quiet on where her next educational venture had come from.

Giving the final speech at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) annual conference, she said: “I’m studying right now.

“I’m in year 13, I have my A-Level exams coming and I have received a conditional offer, which is three As, so I need to get the three As, that’s what my focus is right now, and I hope to continue my work and also continue my studies.

“And I’m really thankful to you all for your support for encouraging me for my mission. That’s what makes me and keeps me so strong, so thank you so much for that, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.”

When the education campaigner finished her speech, the hundreds of delegates rose and gave her a standing ovation.

She said that, alongside her degree, she would continue to work for the Malala Fund, adding: “My goal is to make sure every child, girl and boy, they get the opportunity to go to school.

“It is their basic human right, so I will be working on that and I will never stop until I see the last child going to school.”

The teenager also provoked laughter from the audience when she revealed she thought she was in trouble when she was called out of a chemistry class at school. Her fears were unfounded – the reason she was pulled from the lesson was to tell her she was the next Nobel prize recipient.

She said: “Suddenly, our deputy headteacher appears in the classroom and I’m just quite shocked, because why would she call me? I thought I was in trouble or something.

“She called me outside and I went and she said: ‘You have won the Nobel peace prize.’ So it was a big surprise, and I said: ‘Thank you.’”