Ellie Goulding begged to get a place in university.

The 'Burn' hitmaker - who was raised by her mother after her dad walked out when she was just five years old - was given a place to study drama at the University of Kent and is amazed she was admitted as she didn't have an audition or even visit the campus before she was accepted.

She said: ''With university, I got myself there. I wrote a long, heartfelt letter saying, 'I know I haven't had an audition, you don't know me and I've never been to the campus but here's my story - can you give me a place on your course?' It must have touched them because it's one of the best drama courses in the country. I still can't believe they gave me a place.''

Although Ellie insists she worked hard at school, she also admitted she was ''very naughty''.

She added to Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine: ''At school I was very smart and loved books but I was very naughty too. I talked a lot in class and played up with my best friend Niall. He had a tough background - he'd never even met his dad - and we just wanted to escape and have fun all the time.

''But we both worked really hard too. We were clever because we knew we had no choice - there was nothing to fall back on.''