AINAN Celeste Cawley, Bryan and Michelle Yip, and Sunku Sai Swaroop are all children ahead of their time.

Ainan, whose father is Irish and mother is Singaporean, passed an O-level chemistry paper in January this year when he was only seven years and one month, making him the youngest to attain an O-level certificate in Singapore.

Byran, 14, aced 10 O-level papers and passed two others, while his sister Michelle, 12, aced 5 O-levels and passed two others. They are heading to UK to further their studies.

The siblings are among just 10 young people - mainly international students - who have taken an O- or A-level exam at a younger age than usual at the British Council in the last three years.

At 14 years old, Sunku Sai Swaroop is the youngest undergraduate in Nanyang Technological University and is at least five years younger than his classmates.

The teenager from Andhra Pradesh, India who is studying physics in the school of physical and mathematical sciences, was accepted based on his A level results and an interview.

Sai aced two O level subjects, physics and mathematics, when he was 12, after just four months of preparation.

Read the stories about these whiz kids in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.