Gifted Shrubbery pupil Nuha Maryam has been declared ‘brainer than Stephen Hawking’ after sitting a test organised by Mensa, the international society for people with high IQ.
Eleven-year-old Nuha took part in two Mensa tests at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Birmingham, sitting in a room full of adults all hoping to discover that they had the brains to join the society.

And in the Cattell III B scale test she scored 162 – putting her two IQ points ahead of both Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein!
Nuha said: “At first when I went into the room there were a lot of 30-40-year-olds taking the test, so I felt quite intimidated.
“I really thought that the results would come back with quite a normal IQ, as I don’t really feel that remarkable! But the second test gave me a score of 162, and I was overjoyed.”
Gifted Shrubbery pupil Nuha has Oxford dream
Nuha, who has just left The Shrubbery School and is about to start at Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls, already has her sights set on a place at Oxford.
And she is also hoping to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who are both doctors.

“I’d like to be a surgeon – maybe a plastic surgeon or a cardiovascular surgeon,” she said. “I like learning about the human body and medicine, and I like psychology as well.”
Nuha is one of six classmates from the Shrubbery who will start at Sutton Girls in September, having passed their 11-plus exams.
Dad Niyam said: “We are absolutely over the moon that Nuha wants to follow in our footsteps to become a doctor – we have obviously made an impression on her!”
Mum Sabreen added: “I can’t express how proud we are of Nuha. She wanted to go and do the test, so we let her – but we never expected a score like this. It’s wonderful.”
Shrubbery headteacher Amanda Lees said: “Nuha is not only tremendously gifted, she’s also kind, caring and very hardworking. We wish her all the best at Sutton Girls – and look forward to following her achievements.”
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“I really thought that the results would come back with quite a normal IQ, as I don’t really feel that remarkable!”
– nuha maryam