Exam stamina

So - what to study today? The question is made easier for Mahnoor by the fact that she is doing four A-levelsThe national exams taken by 17 and 18-year-olds in parts of the UK. A-level grades are used to determine university places. at school - which leaves only another 24 to choose from at home. Perhaps it is time to focus on psychology; or maybe Latin would suit her mood. Then again, she would like to get ahead with psychology... and classical civilisation... and accounting... and law...

At least the choice is easier than it was with her GCSEsNational exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. : there were 34 of them, which she did over two years. She spent 10 days studying for each, knuckling down when she got home from school and working until one or two o'clock in the morning. She ended up with 33 grade nines and one grade eight.

"I think I just have a good memory," she says. "It's my biggest tool. I tend to read and process things quite quickly and I'm good at scanning text."

But there is more to it than that: her IQA means of measuring human intelligence. A person's IQ is usually ascertained by making them sit a standardised test. Some have criticised these tests as a means of evaluating intelligence, claiming that they ignore much of what it means to be intelligent. has been measured at 161, which is as high as EinsteinAlbert Einstein (1879-1955) was the most influential scientist of the 20th Century. His theory of relativity made the development of nuclear power - and the nuclear bomb - possible.'s was. And, she says, "My mum invested in a lot of brain-building activities when I was young, like arithmetic, chess, classical music."¹

Some people have accused her parents of being pushy. But according to Lynn Kendall, a psychologist working for MensaThe largest and oldest society for people with high-IQs in the world. Mensa is the Latin word for "table". , children like Mahnoor push themselves: "They are extremely driven and it is stopping them that is the problem."²

Mahnoor says that she could answer A-level maths questions when she was at primary school, but was not allowed to move up a year. She believes that schools have a duty to support gifted children just as they do those with special educational needs:

"I feel so sorry for that nine-year-old girl when I look back... I think there are so many kids who had talent to do so much, but it was wasted because no one recognised their potential or knew what to do with it."

It was hard for her to make friends because she felt so different: "I enjoyed reading PlatoOne of the most important Ancient Greek philosophers.  and SocratesConsidered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason.. My classmates were reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid." She was put in a "nurture" group to help her get on with others, but felt it was humiliating: "We would make pancakes when everyone was in class and learning. I never saw how that benefited me."

She sat the entrance exams for every grammar school within 20 miles as an "intellectual challenge" and scored almost 100% in all of them. But she complains that the one she chose tried to dissuade her from taking so many GCSEs.

She denies that she works too hard: "My parents have always made sure I'm not so academically focussed that I forget to have a social life and extra-curriculars. So I play the piano, I do chess, I do swimming, I go out with my friends."

How very clever children turn out in later life is a question that fascinates many people. Michael Kearney, who became the world's youngest university graduate at the age of 10, was last heard of working with a theatre company in Nashville. Its website said he had decided to "share his collection of useless information with the world of Improv, where all sorts of strange beasts and mutants live".

But is she wasting her time?

Yes: There is little point in studying for 28 A-levels, most of which will be irrelevant to what she does in later life. When she is older she will look back and regret not spending more time with friends instead.

No: Far too many people spend their lives thinking about a narrow range of subjects. It is great that she is broadening her mind, setting an example to others and encouraging schools to do better.

Or... She is not wasting her own time, but she is wasting her teachers'. She is obviously capable of teaching herself, so she should leave them to focus on students in greater need of their help.