The parents of a Manchester schoolgirl have a spoken of their amazement after a test revealed her IQ to be ‘higher than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking’.
Anwita Patil was just 11-years-old when she undertook an IQ test with Mensa, the largest and oldest high-IQ society in the world. “She got the highest possible score of 162 in her age category,” said shocked dad, Jay Patil.
This score places her higher than the results of the two famous physicists, both believed to have IQs of around 160.
Anwita comes from a academic pedigree - the schoolgirl’s dad is an NHS consultant in Manchester, and mum Anu is a mathematician with a PhD in the subject. But during her young life, she has wowed them with her natural intelligence.
Anu and daughter Anwita spend time doing maths problems together - and the mother realised there was something unusual happening when her little girl started beating her to the answers.
“Right from primary school onwards, Anwita would be coming up with a few ways of solving problems that my wife doesn’t know. We thought there had to be something else going on here,” father Jay said.
“We used to do maths challenges together, but sometimes I didn’t get the answer and (Anwita) would. She thinks completely differently, and this is for things that aren’t taught in school,” Anu added.
Anu Patil had been following the Mensa society for years, the family told the Manchester Evening News. It's only open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ intelligence test, with an acceptance score to secure membership of 140.
Impressed by the young girl’s abilities, her parents decided to take Anwita for a test, which comes in two parts. The first tests linguistic ability and lateral thinking, which saw Anwita get 162, and the second tests visual and spatial awareness, in which she achieved 140.
“It’s a test of logical problems, there’s nothing to prepare for. It’s testing your inherent capability and can be done on all age groups including children,” explained Mr Patil.
The Year 7 pupil at Withington Girls’ School took the Mensa test in January and discovered that she received a score of 162. Her proud parents, who live in Sale, said: “When we found out, I thought ‘you must be joking?’
“We expected her to get the membership but were absolutely astounded when we received the email confirmation of her maximum test score. Anwita is over the moon about this and made us extremely proud of her achievements.
“We are all very grateful to her teachers and all other staff members at Withington Girls’ School in Manchester and especially, Mrs Aileen Hoare from North West Gifted and Talented organisation who has helped Anwita in recognising her potential and building her confidence to take up exams like Junior Maths Challenge and a few others successfully.”
Days after receiving the incredible results, avid Harry Potter fan Anwita enjoyed her 12th birthday and celebrated her achievement with a get-together with close family and friends.
When not solving maths problems, Anwita is learning to play piano as well as pursuing her love for dancing by learning Bharatanatyam - a classical Indian dance form.
“Anwita is quite fascinated by the practical applications of maths in various subjects be it science, engineering or computers. Anwita hopes that she will help solve societal challenges using her skills and experience when she grows up,” her dad added.
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