A university applicant who shaved his head to celebrate getting into medical school has been left red-faced after the university said it had made a mistake in its admittance list – and removed him and 30 others.

Gabriel Zimermann, aged 20, threw a party with friends and family in which he shaved his head and allowed himself to be written on and have coloured powders thrown at him to celebrate his admission to medical school.

However, the Federal University of Parana, whose main campus is located in the Brazilian city of Curitiba and which had announced that Gabriel had received a place on Tuesday, 31st August, admitted it had made an error the following day.

However, by that time, Gabriel had already thrown a celebratory party with his friends and family and had even shaved his head, which is a traditional celebration in Brazil for getting into university.

After the university corrected its error, which affected 31 school leavers in total, Gabriel now finds himself on the waiting list and does not have a guaranteed place as he had been led to believe.

The news is all the more frustrating for the Curitiba resident, as he has spent almost four years trying to pass the entrance exam and had been led to believe he had finally achieved the required grades, which, in fact, he had not.

Despite his bitter disappointment at the university’s blunder, Gabriel told local media he still plans to keep his dream of studying medicine alive.

An inquiry has since been launched into the university’s error.