A teenager stabbed to death in the street by a gang of hoodies would have received top grades in his GCSEs today.

Ajmol Alom, a star pupil at Langdon Park School in Poplar, achieved eight As and three Bs.

The 16-year-old was knifed in the leg by the group in Poplar last week. His friend, also 16, was stabbed in the cheek, but survived the attack.

Ajmol had been considering a career in medicine, and his A grades included maths and all three sciences, which would have ensured his place on any science courses he chose to take in the Sixth Form.

His headteacher, Chris Dunne, said: “We are constantly bombarded with negative stories about young people, about their poor attitudes and anti-social behaviour. Working in schools and youth clubs for the past 40 years I have learned the opposite, that the vast majority of young people are in fact very decent, and undoubtedly go on to be equally decent adults.

“Our school, our community, our country has just lost one of its brightest prospects and we are all rightly shocked and depressed by it. The best comfort we can take from it is that, for however a short a time, those of us that knew Ajmol knew a very splendid young man and a fine citizen.”

A 19-year-old man has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with Ajmol’s murder and was remanded in custody until a further hearing on November 4, but police are continuing to appeal for witnesses.