Hannah Gaffey has won the first-ever scholarship in a new postgraduate programme beating 730 other applicants which she is using to study at Cambridge.

The Queen Mary University graduate gets £20,000 for her studies covering tuition fees and living expenses for her MPhil in Education on international development.

She topped the poll when voting opened to the public for a shortlist of 13 candidates selected by Future Finance student loan specialists.

"A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders after eight months of worrying," Hannah said. "I could never have achieved this without friends, family and the community."

Hannah graduated from Queen Mary's Mile End campus with a BA in English Language and Linguistics, but had to start her own fundraising selling T-shirts and tote bags which helped raise £600 towards her own studies.

Her story stood out for the scholarship programme because of her "passion for education accessible to all".