The kits, which are educational and at the same time fun, are being sold in countries ranging from Spain and Greece to New Zealand, Malaysia, China, the Middle East and South America.

Edu-Lab Ltd, which is based at Bexwell, has now appointed 16 overseas distributors, has been operating since 2000 but only started to push its export sales in April 2006. Its new boost to global sales came after it signed up to the Passport to Export scheme which is delivered through East of England International.

Fred Dunn, who is Edu-Lab's export manager, explained: "They showed us how to get organised in a more structured way rather than working on an ad-hoc basis. It helped us to visit the USA to meet international distributors and it has provided market research information.

"The result is that we have made progress beyond my original expectations and quadrupled our export sales in a very short time."

He said that one important move was the recent publication and launch of a 450-page full-colour catalogue.

The founders of the firm have experience in teaching science and medicine and now produce the "real world" kits which span the primary and secondary curriculums.

As well as being popular in the UK they are also particularly attractive to countries following UK courses.

While practical work is the cornerstone of the kits, a laboratory is not necessary and this is an important factor for developing countries.

The kits cover mini-science, typically dealing with seeds and green plants, macro-science which looks at electricity, for example, and micro-science such as plant enzymes.

Among other products are bio-science kits such as a DNA murder mystery package, biological models and posters.