A journalism hopeful from India is to study at Cardiff University after competing for his place on TV.

Ayushman Jamwal, an 18-year-old from New Delhi, has enrolled on the BA Journalism, Film and Media course after beating thousands of other Indian applicants in the New Delhi Television programme Scholar Hunt: Destination UK.

The Apprentice-style reality show was broadcast on NDTV, the largest national English language channel in India with a reach of approximately 50 viewers, and Ayushman scooped the prize after completing a series of tests.

These including a televised interview, question-and-answer session and a practical challenge, having already met the academic requirements for the course.

Dr John Jewell, deputy chair of the undergraduate board of studies at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, co-devised the tasks the would-be students completed for the programme and interviewed the finalists in the closing stages of the competition.

He said: “Ayushman Jamwal is a very capable young man, a worthy winner of the competition and someone whom we are sure will be a credit to the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural studies.”

Cardiff University will pay Ayushman’s tuition fees and living expenses of up to £5,000 a year as part of the three-year scholarship.

Ayushman said: “It’s the chance of a lifetime and I’m really excited to be studying at Cardiff University.”

Cardiff’s partners in the project were the Universities of Sheffield, Leeds, Middlesex and Warwick, who each also offered scholarship places in different subjects.