A 16-year-old schoolboy who was stabbed to death on Monday night has been described as a “delightful young man” by his headteacher.

A murder investigation was launched after a boy, named locally as Ajmol Alom, was stabbed to death in Spey Street, Poplar.

The Langdon Park School pupil, who lived on the nearby Teviot Estate, was praised by headteacher Chris Dunne as “very capable”. He was weeks away from getting his GCSE results.

Mr Dunne said: “Ajmol himself was an absolutely delightful young man; a very hard-working but very able student with a very bright future ahead of him.

“He would have been going on to take four A-levels and would undoubtedly have gone to university and done exceptionally well.”

Ajmol had been part of a small group of pupils involved in a conflict resolution programme with Catholic and Protestant students from Northern Ireland, his teachers said.

He had taken some of his GCSEs a year early, and was expected to excel when the rest his results came out later this month.

Police were called to the scene at around 9.50pm on Monday to reports of two 16-year-old boys injured.

Both victims were taken to hospital, where Ajmol later died, police said. The second victim suffered a facial injury which is not said to be life-threatening.

A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Tuesday morning. He remains in custody at an east London police station.

Det Ch Insp Colette Smyth, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We believe there were a number of people in the area at the time and we would appeal for any witnesses or anyone with information to please come forward.

“We are keeping an open mind about any possible motive at this stage.”

Next of kin have been informed, and a post-mortem examination will be held in due course, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 020 8358 0100 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.