School pupils raised concerns about the age of an asylum-seeker classmate after he bombarded a teenage girl with text messages, it was claimed yesterday.

The 15-year-old girl was said to be worried by the messages because she was convinced the boy, who claimed to be the same age, was far older.

The male pupil – said to be as old as 30 – is believed to be an asylum seeker from Iran who joined Stoke High School in Ipswich, Suffolk, this term.

This Snapchat post has led to the school referring the 15-year-old boy (pictured) to the Home Office to check his age after students claimed he had said he was 30

Stoke High School on Friday pulled the boy out of class as they try to determine his age

Staff told the year 11 pupil that the girl did not welcome his attention.

It is thought the 6ft 1in Iranian claimed to be 15 years old when he arrived in the UK via Germany. UK authorities accepted his claims and allowed him to stay and get an education.

Caroline Wilson is the executive principal of Stoke High School – Ormiston Academy, which has 668 students

But classmates found a Facebook profile in the boy’s name, showing him with a full beard, a hairy chest and swigging a bottle of beer.

The profile described him as a former architecture student at the Islamic Azad University in Abadan, Iran, who had lived in Erfurt, Germany.

A girl at the school said: ‘Everyone was making jokes as we went into registration, saying, “What is a man doing at our school?”

‘He started FaceTiming my friend, sending her messages, asking how close she lived to the school.

‘She was a bit concerned because he seemed so old. He kept messaging her during the night, and in the morning he texted her saying, “Hello, how are you?”

‘She told the maths teacher and was taken to the safeguarding teacher who looked at the messages and said there was nothing sinister about them.’

Last week a pupil posted a Snapchat picture of the ‘boy’ at school with a caption, saying: ‘How’s there a 30-year-old man in our maths class?’

The picture circulated on social media, leading to other parents demanding the pupil be kicked out. The Home Office is investigating.