'I'm really very happy that Standard Chartered offered me the scholarship. It can cover

the tuition fee as well as accommodation on campus,' said the CCC Tam Lee Lai Fun Memorial Secondary School student, who just finished his HKCEE.

'I thought I would have to do part-time work to earn money. Now I don't have to worry and can concentrate on my study.' He said he was writing computer programmes and working on a monitoring system for security guards for his brother's company that would at least cover his first year's tuition.

Yik-hei, who will turn 17 in October, became headline news two weeks ago when the HKUST announced his early admission, irrespective of his HKCEE results. He is the first student in Hong Kong to start university straight after Form Five.

He will start at HKUST from Year Zero - a foundation course mainly for mainland students who have not taken A-Levels.

In April this year, he was appointed as Standard Chartered Priority Academy Honourable Scholar and will participate in its leadership-building programmes.

He will also contribute to the bank's global charity campaign, 'Seeing Is Believing', with an invention to help the visually impaired.

His mother was delighted by the scholarship.

'We were worried about how to get enough money to support Yik-hei and his elder brother's education,' said Ms Candy Ng.

'His brother returned to Hong Kong a few months ago to work so he can afford his final year of study in Australia.

'We are very grateful to Standard Chartered.'

Yik-hei rose to fame after coming second in the 2004 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair with his security robot Total Equip.

He was also awarded the right to name a minor planet.

He will leave later this month for the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena where he will work with renowned astronomer Yung Yuk-lam through the summer break.