A STUDENT selected by the Prime Minister to represent the UK, has returned from a life-changing trip to Brazil.

George Meagher, a former pupil at d’Overbroeck’s College in North Oxford, spent two weeks in Rio de Janeiro learning about the city, then two weeks living with a family in the country’s biggest city, Sao Paulo.

While there he taught English, and completed a two week placement with food manufacturers Cadbury’s.

The 19 year-old, from near Thame, was one of just 100 young people chosen to fly the flag for the UK as a Prime Minister’s Global Fellow.

He said: “It was quite eye-opening to see the level of poverty, it was almost scary.

“But what was fantastic is that we were shown lots of government schemes, and visited shanty towns where these schemes were improving the situation quite directly.

“However, we also saw schemes where a massive amount of money was going in, but the difference they were making was small.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had a direct role in the selection process which saw Mr Meagher chosen.

Louise Kang, a pupil at Oxford High School, was also selected for a trip to Brazil.

Mr Meagher said his experiences in Brazil had changed his world view, and made him more interested in politics.

He said: “The thing that most bothered me about it was the lack of social mobility.”

He now has to report back to Mr Brown at a Downing Street reception in November.

Mr Meagher will start a degree in French and international business at Bath University this month.

The Global Fellowship offers 100 school and college leavers a year the chance to visit emerging economic powers. It is funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and managed by the British Council.