Malala Yousafzai applies for PPE at Warwick

Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Malala Yousafzai has applied to study PPE at the University of Warwick, alongside Oxford, LSE and Durham. She currently holds three A*AA conditional offers and an AAA offer from Oxford.

She received the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize at 17, following her campaign work for children’s rights to receive education. While living under Taliban rule, she wrote a blog which, under a pseudonym, argued for the importance of girls’ education.

Ms Yousafzai is now preparing for her A-Levels at an all-girls school in Birmingham.

At the Association of School and College Leaders annual conference last Saturday, she announced that she will continue to run the Malala Fund, an international charity which advocates for all girls to have access to at least 12 years of education, alongside her studies.

She told the conference: “I’m in Year 13 and I have my A-Level exams coming and I have received a conditional offer which is three As, that is my focus right now. I have applied to study PPE so for the next three years I will be studying that.”

The Oxford PPE course (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) has schooled three former Pakistani Prime Ministers, including Benazir Bhutto, the first elected female leader of a majority-Muslim nation. It has also produced former Prime Minister David Cameron, The Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

At Warwick, the course differs from Oxford’s by bridging the gaps between the three disciplines and focusing on global political economy, justice and humanitarian intervention. A recent Boar survey found it was perceived to be amongst the hardest of the social science subjects, alongside Law and Economics.

Alexandra Niculescu, a first-year PPE student commented: “I really enjoy the course because I get the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of topics, ranging from metaphysics to consumer behaviour.”

“I also like the fact that the course is not restrictive in terms of career opportunities, which is important if you want to keep your options open.”