17-year-old makes history with IQ higher than Einstein's, Hawking's

Mahnoor Cheema has an IQ of 161, higher than that of some of the world’s greatest physicists, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking who both had an estimated IQ of 160.

The 17-year-old arrived in Britain at age nine but had initial challenges with the system as her school refused to let her move up a year despite her outstanding performance at the Colnbrook Church of England Primary School in Berkshire.

At the Langley Grammar School, Cheema said teachers will discourage her from taking her General Certificate of Secondary Education (GSCE) Examinations.

Today, the sixth-form student is studying for 28 A-levels and has already passed 34 GCSEs with 33 9s, the highest grade for the exam and an 8.

She is studying for four of her A-level examinations at the Henrietta Barnett School in London while she does all others with her personal study coach and mum, Tayyaba Cheema.

“It doesn't really tend to take up a lot of time," she told the BBC.

She is taking two math courses, three languages, three variations of history, economics, business, computer science, and film studies.

Despite all her study responsibilities, Mahnoor does not forget to have a social life. She is involved in some sports including swimming.

“My parents have always made sure I'm not so academically focused that I forget to have a social life and extracurriculars. So I play the piano, I play chess, I do swimming, I go out with my friends.

"I just didn't want to narrow down my choices, and I think if I had done four A-levels I would have been very dissatisfied with the academic challenge provided to me, so I just decided to go that extra mile,” she noted.

Mahnoor hopes to gain a place at Oxford University or Imperial College and hopes to pursue her dreams as a neurosurgeon.

"I was always fascinated by my own brain, by how the brain makes people tick, emotions, memory processing. So neuroscience and neurosurgery is an interest of mine,” she further said.