Leeds schoolboy, 11, scores highest possible on Mensa IQ test – ‘beating Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking’ – and celebrates with family meal at Nando’s
- Yusuf Shah, 11, recorded a 162 in a Mensa test – the maximum for under-18s
- Stephen Hawking scored 160 and Albert Einstein would be the same
- Yusuf, from Leeds, said he wanted to test himself as his friends say he is smart
- He celebrated this incredible achievement with a meal at Nando’s with his family.
A Leeds schoolboy scored the highest possible score in a Mensa test – beating Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking – and celebrated with a family meal at Nando’s.
Brainy Yusuf Shah, 11, recorded a 162 – the highest for anyone under 18 and in the highest percentage of anyone.
Hawking would have scored 160 points and Einstein, who never officially took the test, would have scored the same.
Yusuf said his friends at school always told him he was very smart – and wanted to test himself by taking the IQ quiz.
To celebrate this feat, Yusuf went to Nando’s for a meal with his parents and two younger brothers Zaki and Khalid.
Brainy Yusuf Shah, 11, recorded a 162 in a Mensa test – the maximum for under-18s and in the highest percentage of all people
Yusuf scored in the top 1% of people and wasn’t intimidated by taking the test in a room full of adults.
Yusuf said: “Everyone at school thinks I’m very smart and I always wanted to know if I was in the two percent of people taking the test.
“It’s special to have a certificate for me and about me.”
Sixth-year student Yusuf hopes to study maths at Cambridge or Oxford and says he enjoys doing anything that stimulates his brain.
When he’s not studying, the math genius loves sudokus and solving Rubik’s cubes.
He started playing with Rubik’s cubes in January after seeing one at his friend’s house and by the end of the month he was able to easily solve cubes of all difficulties.
Yusuf celebrated this incredible achievement with a meal at Nando’s with his parents Sana and Irfan and his two younger brothers Zaki (left) and Khalid (right)
Her delighted mum, Sana, said: ‘I was so proud. He is the first person to take the Mensa test in the family.
“I was actually a little worried too – he always went to a room full of kids to take tests.
“We thought he might be intimidated by the adults at the centre. But he did it brilliantly.
I always tell him that ‘Your father is always smarter than you’.
“We take it all lightly.
“Even if you are talented, you have to be the hardest worker.”
Papa Irfan added: “It’s a tough test to prepare for.
“We just did what we were already doing – nothing specific for the IQ test.”
Eight-year-old younger brother Khalid also hopes to take the Mensa test when he is older.
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