A troubled Wandsworth teenager who vowed to turn his life around has travelled to India to teach Tibetan refugee children.

Merlain Makiadi, 19, grew up in care and flunked every exam he took until one carer inspired him to believe in himself and aim high.

The former student at Southfields Community College, who now hopes to go into investment banking, flew out to Darjeeling last year to teach English at a monastery.

He said: “Growing up in care wasn't too bad, but there was always a stigma attached to it. I thought that no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't going to get me anywhere. I had no motivation and I gave up.

“But it got to the point where my brothers were going a certain way, and I decided that wasn't the way I wanted to be and that I could do better.”

It was when Merlain was predicted just two GCSE passes that his carer told him to switch schools to the top-rated Southfields and turn his grades around.

With hard work, he moved from bottom of the class to top in a matter of months, and came out with 11 GCSEs at grades A and B.

After his amazing success, Merlain wanted to give back to the community and raised over £1,000 in sponsorship after vowing to walk everywhere without public transport for a month.

He used the money, together with a bursary from the gap year company Lattitude, to volunteer in India.

He said: “I loved the kids. I did recognise myself in some of the younger ones because they were nightmares sometimes.

“It made me understand how much work as a teacher you put in, to get your students through. I pushed my students to revise and they all passed. I'm very proud of that.”

Merlain, who hopes to study business management at university, also founded CLICK (Children Living in Care Kouncil), which helps children have a say in the decisions affecting them.