Britain’s smartest teen has achieved a staggering 23 A-levels with grades of A and A*. Mahnoor Cheema, 18, has an IQ of 161 – higher than Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein – and received an unconditional offer to study medicine at the University of Oxford.
After sitting 34 GCSEs, Mahnoor, who attended Henrietta Barnett School in north-west London, decided she wanted to study 31 A Levels. But she settled on doing on doing less, after worries from teachers she was taking on too much.
She completed four A* in her first two months at the sixth form, and this week learned she had achieved A*s in law and history as well as grades in French and physics, according to the Mail Online.
The teen studied psychology, sociology, law, business, accounting, economics, Latin, German, computer science, film studies, politics, classical civilisation, maths, further maths, geography and media studies, physics, chemistry, biology, English literature, film studies, French, statistics and accounting.
She says she has no regrets and would be “bored and under stimulated” if she only did the standard three A-levels – and said burnout is “a choice”.
Speaking previously, the grammar school pupil, from Slough, Berks., said: “Absorbing content and analysing and evaluating things comes naturally to me. I’m busy but I don’t take on so much that it’ll cause me stress or pressure – I try to do everything within my capabilities. I have loads of interests, that’s why I wanted to do so many subjects – it doesn’t take that much time or effort.
“I think if you have the capability to do more, it should be explored – I would be bored doing only three subjects over two year. Burnout is a big thing for some people but I’m just motivated and driven and it doesn’t affect me. I see burnout as a choice – it’s not burnout if you enjoy what you’re doing.”
Mahnoor was born in the UK before moving to Lahore, Pakistan with her parents in 2010.
Her family then moved back to the UK in 2016 and mum Tayyaba Cheema, 44, a full-time mum with a masters in economics, said she Mahnoor “quite different” from a young age.
By the age of six, Mahnoor had read all seven Harry Potter books, and, by 11, had learned the entire Oxford English Dictionary “by heart”. Mahnoor, who dreams of doing a TED talk one day, said last year: “I just read the book and it goes into my head.
“I don’t really take notes – I find them to be a waste of time. I don’t think my memory is photographic, but it’s good!”
Her favourite subjects were maths and sciences.
She said, speaking previously: “The main enjoyment for me is studying the subject and the rich knowledge – the exam is just the qualification.
“A big misconception is I’m just an exam robot, but loads of the subjects I do require analysis too. For film studies, I have to create a film, edit, write the script. And with English you have to develop your own critical stance.”
Mahnoor has an unusual sleep routine – going to bed for three hours after school, getting up at 7pm, and going back to bed at 2am, she said previously. Tayyaba creates a study timetable for Mahnoor to keep her on track, making sure she makes time to see friends, travel and enjoy hobbies.But Tayyaba, said there is “no pressure” from her or husband Usman Cheema, 49, a barrister, for Mahnoor to do anything more than what she wants to. Tayyaba said: “I have given her the choice, I just say ‘whatever you do in life, do it the best you can’.”
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