A teenager who has been studying Mandarin for only three years has won a place at a Chinese university after impressing competition judges.

Seventeen-year-old Mary Oboh took third place at the Chinese proficiency awards in China, winning a three-year scholarship to a Chinese university of her choice.

In the ninth Chinese Bridge Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students she competed against pupils from 89 different countries and was awarded the first individual prize.

Her first two years of studying the language were completely self-taught, as Mandarin was not offered at her secondary school.

She has now had one year of tuition at Dartford Grammar School with a native Chinese teacher.

She said: “I found I had an aptitude for picking up languages and I wanted to use my free time to challenge myself.

“I was attracted to its reputation as a very difficult language.”

Mary does not only speak fluent Mandarin, she can also read and write it.

The competition at the Yunnan Normal University was organised by Hanban, an organisation affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Education.

Mary said: “As it was my first time travelling to China, I was full of excitement even though it was a bit intense.”

In a few weeks she will participate in the HSBC Chinese Speaking Competition in partnership with the British Council.”