A journalism student who spotted an inaccurate description of her religion in a course textbook is celebrating after publishers agreed to correct their mistake.

Gurpreet Kaur, of Thornton Heath, was using the National Council for the Training of Journalists’ course book ‘Essential Reporting,’ when she discovered what she described as an “inaccurate and historically incomplete description of Sikhism.”

The 41-year-old trainee wrote to both the NCTJ and exam regulatior Ofqual to complain about the sentence which claimed Sikhism was ‘developed from Hinduism, abandoning the caste system.’

The NCTJ acknowledged the error and has agreed to remove the reference for future editions of the book.

Ms Kaur welcomed the outcome and said it was a hugely constructive achievement.

She said: “The author had a misinterpreted view of Sikhism and ignored many rich aspects of the religion.

“It is extremely significant as it was sustained the theological principles, rites and rituals of the Sikhs are altogether different from those of Hindu and that Sikhism is an independent religion.”

The NCTJ has declined t0 issue a formal comment but a spokeswoman confirmed it was discussing possible amendments for the book’s next edition, due to be printed in 11 months’ time.