Western Mail

12-year-old’s IQ score leaves Einstein trailing

- ABBIE WIGHTWICK Education editor abbie.wightwick@mediawaled.co.uk

A12-YEAR-OLD boy has scored higher in an IQ test than the projected scores of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

Harrison Casey got 162 marks on a Mensa paper, the maximum possible result and two points higher than the estimated IQs of Einstein and cosmologis­t Hawking.

The mark puts the Aberdare Community School pupil in the top 1% of the population and he is now a member of the elite Mensa society.

Harrison, who dreams of becoming a pathologis­t and finding cures for diseases, said the two-hour IQ test paper, which he sat in Cardiff last month, was “sort of difficult”.

The Year 8 pupil, who was reading newspapers at the age of one and subtractin­g and dividing numbers aged three, said: “I am happy with the result. It was quite good. It was sort of difficult.

“I took the test because I thought I would get a rather high score and I was right. It took me two hours as planned.”

Harrison is in top sets for all subjects at school, but his favourite subject is maths and he aims to take maths GCSE two years early next year.

“The truth is I don’t really study. It just comes naturally. I quite like school,” he said.

And he brushed off suggestion­s he might be cleverer than top brains like Einstein and Hawking, adding: “I like Stephen Hawking. He’s cool.”

Aberdare Community School assistant head Tara Neale said she thinks Harrison is the first pupil in the school to become a Mensa member.

“We are incredibly proud of him. He’s obviously going to be a future star and we hope he remembers us when he is,” she said.

“Education is about responding to the needs of the child, so we will work with his parents to come up with a plan for him. It’s an amazing achievemen­t.”

Harrison’s mother, Amy, said she and his dad, Lee, a mechanical engineer, realised their son was gifted academical­ly when he was very young.

Diagnosed with high-functionin­g Asperger’s syndrome at age four, Harrison could subtract and divide numbers aged three, she said.

“We always knew he was clever,” said Amy.

“He will sit GCSE maths next year at the age of 14.

“We are very proud of him. His educationa­l psychologi­st suggested he sat the Mensa test when he was in primary school, but you can’t sit it until you are at least 10.”

 ??  ?? > Harrison Casey ,12, has a Mensa score of 162
> Harrison Casey ,12, has a Mensa score of 162
 ??  ?? > Dr Albert Einstein
> Dr Albert Einstein

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