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Sally Le Page has taken first prize at the Guardian and Oxford University Press (OUP) Very Short Film competition.

She was awarded ￡9,000 towards tuition fees for her minute-long film about evolution in a ceremony at the Guardian's London headquarters. Three runners-up each received a ￡250 voucher for OUP books.

The competition challenged students to make films inspired by the Very Short Introduction book series – no more than 60 seconds long. Thousands of Guardian readers voted to select four finalists, with the judging panel deciding the winner.

Chair of the Judges, Judy Friedberg, the Guardian's universities editor, said: "All those that were selected for the final 12 were excellent and I'd like to congratulate everyone who made the cut on their talent and skill.

"Sally Le Page's film on evolution is an energetic and uplifting piece, with strong use of typography and great communication skills. In fact, Sally would make a wonderful TV presenter."

After winning the prize, Sally said: "I wanted to make my film about evolution because life is the most interesting thing in the universe – and we can't understand life without understanding evolution. Most people know what evolution is, but not how important it is. And that's what I wanted to get across in my video."