The teenage women’s rights campaigner shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan went back to school today.

Malala Yousafzai, 15, who was targeted by extremists as she travelled on a school bus in Swat Valley, began her British education at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham.

The schoolgirl – who defied the Taliban to campaign for girls’ education in her home country – was flown to Britain following the attack in October, where surgeons at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham battled to save her life.

From Pakistan to Birmingham: Malala Yousafzai, 15, was gunned down by the Taliban in revenge for her campaigning on girls’ education, but today began her studies at Edgbaston High School for Girls

She was discharged from hospital last month after undergoing hours of surgery to try and repair the damage caused by a bullet which grazed her brain.

Today the teenager started lessons at Edgbaston High after walking to the independent girls’ school accompanied by her father.

Fresh start: Malala walked to school in Birmingham today accompanied by her father, Ziauddin

We join Malala as she starts first day at British school

School: Today was Malala’s first day at Edgbaston High School in Birmingham

She has joined the girls in Year 9 and will be studying a full curriculum as she prepares to select the subjects she will study at GCSE level.

Malala said today: ‘I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity.

‘I miss my classmates from Pakistan very much but I am looking forward to meeting my teachers and making new friends here in Birmingham.’

Recovery: The teenager underwent surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after being shot on her way home from school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley

British education: Malala has joined girls in Year 9 at Edgbaston High, where she will study a full curriculum

There was a heavy security presence at the £3,000-a-term school where the sealed front gates were manned by two guards.

One parent collecting her child from the school gates this afternoon said: ‘The school know how much of an inspiration she is but they have told the girls to treat her like any other pupil.

‘She doesn’t want any special treatment and she has fitted in fine so far.

‘Like any new girl at a new school, she was a little nervous. But she will be fine, I’m sure. It is a good school.’

The Nobel Peace Prize nominee was flown to the UK last October after a Taliban assassin shot her in the head as she travelled home from school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

She was discharged from the hospital last month after doctors fitted her with a titanium plate to repair her skull and a cochlea implant to help her recover hearing in her left ear.

Just days after her operation she was filmed sitting up in bed and vowed to continue her fight for greater women’s rights.

Malala has been living with her father Ziauddin, mother Toorpekai, 40, and brothers Khushal, 12, and Atul, eight, at a safe house in Birmingham.

It is thought she may take up permanent residence in the UK after her father began working with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.

Malala’s school fees are being paid by the Pakistani government.

Edgbaston High School is an independent day school for girls aged two and a half to 18. Founded in 1876, it is Birmingham’s oldest independent girls’ school.

Read more: Daily Mail UK