Record numbers of pupils are taking GCSE and A-level exams early, government figures show.

Record numbers of pupils are taking GCSE and A-level exams early, government figures show.

Nearly 45,000 children took at least one GCSE before they turned 15 last year, while about 8,500 teenagers took A-levels early. In 1996 only 30,600 took GCSEs before they were 15, while just over 7,500 took A-levels before they turned 17.

The statistics, released as a parliamentary written answer, also show that younger and younger children are taking public examinations. Last year, Nirav Gathani became the youngest boy to gain a GCSE when he passed his computing exam at the age of seven.

The Government has encouraged schools to enter pupils for one or more subject early if they are ready.

David Blunkett, the Secretary of State for Education and employment, wants the number of bright pupils taking early GCSEs to increase, to promote an ethos of high expectations. The initiative is part of moves aimed at persuading middle-class families to send their children to state schools, particularly in inner cities, rather than independent schools.

The increase follows the success of state schools such as the Thomas Telford Technology College, Shropshire, England's top-scoring comprehensive school, where children often take exams early.

But heads said that children should not be pushed into attempting too much too young. Bob Carstairs, assistant general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said: "We would not wish to encourage a hot-house atmosphere where pupils are being flogged to death to enter for a GCSE at 14 if they are not ready for it. One has to be very careful because there are parents who push and push and push."

Arthur De Caux, assistant secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "The idea that people should just get exams out of the way and tick them off is something we would not approve of, because we believe education is about more than that."