Meet Mahnoor Cheema, British-Pakistani student with higher IQ than Stephen Hawking who secured 23 A-levels

An 18-year-old British-Pakistani student, Mahnoor Cheema, who has an IQ of 161, surpassing Stephen Hawking by one point, has accomplished the remarkable feat of securing 23 A-levels with top grades of A and A*.

Cheema received an unconditional offer to study medicine at the University of Oxford following her impressive results, fulfilling her childhood dream, according to a British daily.

Mahnoor Cheema’s early years

Mahnoor, born in Lahore, Pakistan, is the daughter of Barrister Usman Cheema and Tayyaba Cheema. She moved to the UK with her parents in 2006 when they pursued higher education at Lincoln’s Inn and SOAS.

She began her early education at a private school in Lahore before enrolling at Langley Grammar School in West London. Later, she joined the Henrietta Barnett School in central London, eventually opting for homeschooling in her final year.

At just 16, Mahnoor earned an AMusTCL diploma in music—an achievement equivalent to an undergraduate degree. She has also been awarded gold medals in Acting and Public Speaking from LAMDA and completed her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in only 10 days, securing a perfect score of 100%.

As per reports, she 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, French, Statistics, and Accounting.

The prodigy attended Henrietta Barnett School (HBS) in north-west London, and was challenged by staff over her desire to study 31 A Levels. As a compromise, she and the school agreed to just 23, more than seven times the average.