UK's brainiest teen with IQ higher than Einstein has taken 28 A levels

02 November 2023 , 17:55

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Mahnoor Cheema (Image: SWNS)

Super-brainy Mahnoor Cheema is aiming to set a record by passing at least 28 A levels after getting 34 A* GCSEs this summer.

Mensa member Mahnoor, 16, has an IQ of 161 - higher than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking’s 160 - and has done four A levels since September. She studied for 24 GCSEs in her own time alongside the 10 she did at school and scored 33 nines and one eight, the equivalent of 33 A*s and one A/A*.

Mahnoor squeezes her studying in using an unconventional sleep routine. She said: “After school, I sleep for three hours as I’m so tired, I wouldn’t be as productive. Then I wake up at 7pm and go to bed again at 2am. The last hour of my day is spent doing piano.” Mahnoor, from Slough, Berks, was born in Britain but she and her family moved to Pakistan in 2010, before moving back to the UK in 2016.

Mahnoor with parents Tayyaba and Usman (SWNS)

Mum Tayyaba Cheema, 42, said she realised her daughter was “different” when she was jut a year old. Tayyaba said: “I got news from Pakistan that my father had just passed away. Mahnoor asked why I was crying, and I explained. She told me, ‘I’m here for you’. It showed how sensitive and intelligent she was, even at that age.”

Tayyaba and husband Usman, 46, a barrister, then saw Mahnoor grow to read all seven Harry Potter books by the age of six, and, by 11, she had learned the entire Oxford English Dictionary “by heart”. Mahnoor started her A levels in September and has completed four, in English language, marine science, environmental management, and thinking skills. She will get the results in February. She plans to study medicine at Oxford University.

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She said: “I guess I do find school easier than most people, I just want to explore my full capability. Plus I am genuinely interested in all of my subjects. I’ve always loved to challenge myself.” Mahnoor has two siblings, Laila, 14, who has won national maths competitions and also has an IQ of 161, and Jibran, nine, a grade four piano player.

Their proud mum Tayyaba credits “genetics, hard work, and consistency” for her children’s success. In 2009, Ali Moeen Nawazish, from Pakistan, did 23 A levels in one year.

Dan Warburton