The UK’s smartest teen calls for more support for the gifted

Seventeen year old Mahnoor Cheema (pictured above), said to be the smartest teenager in Britain with an IQ of 161, is appealing for better support for gifted youngsters.

The Slough prodigy, who is taking 28 A-Levels and achieved 34 A*s in her GCSEs argues that teachers struggle to accommodate her due to their lack of knowledge about recognising and nurturing exceptional talent.

Having moved to Britain from Pakistan at the age of nine, Ms Cheema revealed her initial school, Colnbrook Church of England Primary School in Berkshire, declined to let her proceed to the next educational level.

Despite her swift completion of assignments, the school added extra maths to her workload but refused any advancement.

Ms Cheema said: “I feel we are wasting so much talent in the UK. 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.”

Upon transferring to Langley Grammar School, she conveyed that the teaching staff discouraged her from taking GCSE exams. The school contended that Ms Cheema was over-tasked, sporting dark circles under her eyes.

Even when parents intervened to assist their stressed daughter, they were dubbed ‘pushy.’ She presented a striking contrast between mathematics education in the UK and Pakistan.

According to Ms Cheema, third-grade students in Pakistan could tackle tests designed for 11-year-old British pupils, revealing that maths in the British education system is “very slow.”

Expressing dissatisfaction at the lack of understanding in UK schools, Ms Cheema is urging an increase in support for gifted children in state schools nationwide, similar to the additional assistance provided to those with special educational needs.

Despite her impressive demonstration of academic prowess with 33 top-graded GCSEs, it was not an easy journey for the gifted scholar. She confessed to struggling with school social dynamics and found it hard to relate to her peers, opting to read works by Plato and Socrates instead of popular teen books.

Accepting academic challenges eagerly, Ms Cheema aced every entrance exam for schools within a 20-mile radius of her residence, earning the top spot in three counties.

She is a recognised member of Mensa, needing to score within the top 2% of the general population in a sanctioned intelligence test to qualify.

Currently, Ms Cheema is flourishing at Henrietta Barnett School in North London, where in addition to her academic pursuits, she is part of a swimming team, enjoys horse riding, and regularly attends concerts with friends.