The 18-year-old actress will take up a place in 2009 after a well-earned gap year and had been expected to secure a place at Cambridge. However she has revealed that she is also considering pursuing a course on the other side of the Atlantic.

"I've applied to a few universities for next year, including several American ones. If I do go there I will do a liberal arts degree, but if I stay in the UK I'll do English Literature," she told The Independent.

Watson scored straight As in her Geography, Art and English Literature A-levels last month, and recently completed a summer course at RADA She has amassed a £10 million fortune from her role as Hermione Watson in the Harry Potter films.

The young actress is determined to live as normal a life as possible, and will juggle her career with university studies.In a recent interview, she said: "I wouldn't want my childhood in showbusiness to have been any different. Some days I wish my life were simpler but the rest of the time I feel like the luckiest girl in the world."

Potter fans will have to wait until next summer for Watson's next big screen outing.The release of the next film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has been put back from November to next July - prompting some disgruntled fans to bombard movie studio Warner Bros with hate mail.