Purnima Nimmakayala, a native of Kadapa city, has achieved a milestone by securing admission to the globally renowned University of Edinburgh. She qualified for the MS programme in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics, with the university issuing her student ID number 2858866.
According to university officials, she is expected to join the course on July 28, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
Ranked 27th in the QS World University Rankings 2025, the University of Edinburgh is one of the world's most prestigious institutions. It counts among its alumni global icons such as Charles Darwin, Alexander Graham Bell, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Prakash Karat, Oliver Goldsmith, David Hume, and Walter Scott.
Purnima is the daughter of N Ravishankar Reddy, State Secretary of the Rayalaseema Communist Party, and K Anita from Adinimmayapalle village in Vallur mandal. She studied from Class 1 to 3 at Vikas High School in Kadapa and completed her schooling up to Class 10 at Hyderabad Public School, Kadapa. She pursued her Intermediate education at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, and completed her BSc (Honours) at Lovely Professional University, Punjab.
What makes Purnima's achievement even more special is that she secured an 8-band score in the IELTS exam without any formal coaching, earning her admission to the University of Edinburgh purely on merit.
In addition to Edinburgh, Purnima also received admission offers from other top UK universities. She was accepted into the University of Bristol for an MS in Economics and Finance Mathematics (Student ID: 2767137) and into King's College London for a program in Financial Mathematics and Mathematics (Student ID: 25106479), where she is eligible to join on September 29, as per a report by The New Indian Express.
However, she has chosen to pursue her higher studies at the University of Edinburgh.
