A promising Oxford University medical student who avoided jail after stabbing her boyfriend with a bread knife has conceded she will never be a heart surgeon after losing an appeal against her suspended sentence.

Lavinia Woodward attacked her then partner after drinking at her university accommodation at Christ Church college in 2016.

The 25-year-old was given a 10-month prison term suspended for 18 months at Oxford Crown Court in September last year after admitting unlawful wounding, but challenged her sentence at the Court of Appeal on Friday.

Judges rejected her appeal, prompting her lawyer to tell the court Woodward has accepted she will never fulfil her ambition of becoming a heart surgeon, but hopes to pursue a career in medical research.

Woodward is understood to have one year to complete on her five-year medical degree, which she suspended voluntarily before her sentencing.

In doing so, she bettered her position in terms of negotiating the remainder of her studies because the university's disciplinary committee could not meet to exclude her.

Oxford University declined to comment, but a senior source told The Telegraph: 'It's in her hands in terms of when she would like to come back, but it's not a done deal."