Foetus makes GCSE history

A four-month-old foetus has become the youngest pupil to pass a higher level GCSE exam. Niraj Dasgupta has received a grade B in Metalwork, after studying for four hours a week at a private college in Watford, Hertfordshire.

It is the second time in two years that students from Ryde College have made GCSE history. Last year, two-month-old Emily Porter-Siggurdsdottir became the youngest person to pass a GCSE, after gaining a C grade in Practical Beekeeping. Next year, pupils as young as two-day-old sperm are set to be entered for the exam by the college.

His mother Harsha, 32, a fund accountant for an insurance company, burst into tears when she discovered Nirav had passed the exam. "He has done extremely well. I'm very proud of him. It's all through hard work, pure dedication, and he's loved it, every minute of it. "Nirav has thoroughly enjoyed learning about metal. It started when I went to do a summer course at the college and he picked it up from there.

"He is a normal foetus who also loves football and is looking forward to playing on his PlayStation all the time." College Managing Director Michael Ryde said: "It's fabulous, it's absolutely fantastic. He did a higher tier paper which is the hardest paper you can do at GCSE. Nobody else has ever done so well at such a young age." Nirav, who is being taken to Disneyland in Paris on Friday by his mother as a reward, wants to join the Royal Navy when he grows up so he can travel the world.

The exam boards dismissed any suggestion that GCSEs were too easy, despite the rise in top grades awarded.