Caught out: Ayan Zhademov, 20, of Kazakhstan, dressed up as his girlfriend to take an exam in her place

A boyfriend scored extra points with his 17-year-old girlfriend by dressing up as her to take an end-of-year exam in her place.

Ayan Zhademov, 20, of Kazakhstan, was desperate to help his girlfriend when she told him how worried she was about an upcoming exam.

After failing to calm her pre-test nerves, he hatched a mad plan to impersonate her in the exam room.

The girl, who has not been named, was preparing to take her Unified National Testing, an exam in Kazakhstan which school students must do to gain a place at university.

Donning an old black wig, some make-up and squeezing into her white blouse and grey skirt, Zhademov tried sneaking into the exam room in the town of Zhetisai in south Kazakhstan.

But he was spotted by examiners, who after deciding the girl looked different to her identity card, took her aside for questioning.

A spokesman for the exam board said: 'We suspected it might be another woman that had taken the candidate's place, but we never suspected it was a man that had taken her place. At least not until he started speaking.

'He tried speaking in a high voice but it was obvious then that he was a male.'

Zhademov was fined £1,400 for his actions.

But he has been dubbed a hopeless romantic by other students, with a local businessman even stepping in to help pay off the fine after being impressed by the 20-year-old's ingenuity.

Fellow student Dariga Nesterova said: 'It was stupid but very romantic.

'Sometimes love leads us to do silly things, I wish my boyfriend was this romantic.'

Another student, Goga Korzhova, said: 'She's lucky to have someone as brave as this, someone who will risk everything for her.'

Businessman Olzhas Hudaibergenov, who has agreed to pay half of the fine, said he was delighted to see romance was still alive and well.

He added: 'I suspect that his romantic moves in the future will be more legal.'

The girl was told she will have to now wait until next year before taking the exam.