Malala was ‘embarrassed’ to write about her Nobel Peace Prize on university application

The activist was the youngest ever person to win the award in 2014 when she was 17 years old

(Getty Images for EIF & XQ)

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has said she was too “embarrassed” to write about the accolade on her application for the University of Oxford, where she studied until 2020.

In a new interview with British Vogue, the 23-year-old revealed she completely omitted the award from her personal statement.

She said: “[I] didn’t write anything about the Nobel Prize,” adding, “I felt a bit embarrassed.”

Despite leaving the prize off her personal statement, Malala was awarded a place at the University of Oxford at Lady Margaret Hall college, and studied for an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

She graduated last year. She said in the interview: “When I joined Oxford, I remember the first few tutorials, I was really sad.

“All of a sudden, you become an average student in Oxford, and you’re competing with some of the brightest minds, literally, in the world.”

The young activist also spoke about her time at school in Birmingham, admitting it could sometimes be awkward as other children would ask her about meeting celebrities, while she wanted to be just like any other student.

She said: “People would ask me things like, ‘What was it like when you met Emma Watson or Angelina Jolie or Obama?’

“And I wouldn’t know what to say. It’s awkward, because you want to leave the ‘Malala’ outside the school building, you want to just be a student and a friend.”

High-profile activist Malala recovered from an attempt on her life after being shot in the head in 2012 by the Pakistani Taliban.

The assassination attempt brought her to the UK, where she continued her recovery and has remained to continue her activism for female education.

Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate after she was awarded the honour in 2014 when she was 17 years old.