Krishan Radia, from London, gained a C grade in information systems - the best possible grade in the type of paper he sat.

He now hopes to take more GCSEs, before sitting his A levels at age 10 and eventually becoming a scientist.

"I like doing the work but I have to concentrate on the difficult bits," he said.

"I would like to be a scientist because I like science and also an asteroid is going to hit the earth and I want to stop it."

His mother, Neeta, said she was extremely proud of her son, who likes football, badminton and ice-skating.

"We are really pleased with the grade C, as he was expecting an E," she said. "He works well under pressure and leaves everything to the last minute, but otherwise he is just a normal boy.

"He did all the work for the course in just five months, so we weren't expecting him to do quite so well. He hasn't slept properly for two nights because he's been so excited about getting the results.

"He absolutely loves doing it, and that's the only reason I let him do it."

The principal of Ryde College, Dr Ronald Ryde, said: "We are extremely pleased that Krishan has passed his exam at such a young age and yet again we have proved that age should not be a barrier to academic achievement."