The tests nobody knew about
The detail that makes this story is the secrecy. Before any of it became official, Arjun was completing IQ tests online on his own, without his parents' knowledge. His father Tarun, 50, and mother Rita learned about it only after his exceptional 11-plus results led them to look more closely at what he had been doing.
The formal test followed. He sat Mensa's supervised paper at a testing centre in Reading and scored 162, a result the Slough Observer reported as placing him in the top one per cent nationally and above the figure of 160 commonly estimated for Albert Einstein.
What 162 actually is
The number needs a scale attached to it. On the paper British Mensa uses, 162 is the highest score available to a child, so a young member reported at exactly 162 has reached the ceiling of that particular test rather than been measured beyond it.
The Einstein comparison, which appears in almost every British story of this kind, is looser still. Einstein never sat such a test. The 160 attached to his name is an estimate made after the fact, and the newspapers that print the comparison acknowledge as much with the word estimated. What the score does establish is that an 11-year-old answered a supervised reasoning paper as well as it is possible for a child to answer it.
A father's practical problem
The reaction at home was not celebration so much as logistics. “We are a little bit lost as to what to do with him,” his father told the Slough Observer. “Should we look for a different school?”
That is the question every family in this position faces, and it has no clean answer. A school that suits a child academically may not suit an eleven-year-old socially, and moving a child mid-stage to chase a better fit carries costs that no test score measures. His parents were weighing it publicly, which is more honest than most accounts of gifted children admit.
Piano, kickboxing and table tennis
The rest of his week is unremarkable in the best sense. He was working towards Grade 5 piano, and takes part in kickboxing and table tennis.
His ambitions were split between the specific and the sweeping. He wants to do well at secondary school and to study mathematics and economics at Oxford, and has considered a career in finance, possibly as an oil trader. Asked what he wants more broadly, he said he wants to be someone who helps the world, and to change it for the better.
Why the secret tests matter more than the number
Most children who end up in Mensa are entered by a parent who has noticed something. Arjun entered himself, repeatedly, on a computer, for no audience. That is a different kind of evidence from a high score: it is evidence of the appetite that usually sits underneath one.
Zwanzig Fragen, acht Minuten auf der Uhr und ein Perzentil, gemessen an allen bisherigen Teilnehmern. Ohne Anmeldung.
IQ-Test starten →It also says something about the tests themselves. Online IQ quizzes are unsupervised, unstandardised and generally worthless as measurement, which is precisely why the supervised paper exists. The useful part of his self-testing was not the results it produced but the fact that a ten-year-old found reasoning puzzles interesting enough to keep seeking them out, and kept it to himself.
Where Arjun Bithal is now
The record ends with the 2024 report: 11 years old, newly a Mensa member, at a preparatory school in Slough, with his parents considering their options for secondary education.
The sources used here do not record which school he moved to, how he has progressed since, or anything about his family beyond his parents' names and his father's age. No date of birth is published. The Oxford ambition stated at 11 is a statement of intent, not a plan with dates attached, and this page treats it as one.
| Person | Land | Meilenstein | Alter / Wert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah Kodzo Motey | Kanada | Mit sechs Jahren bei Mensa International aufgenommen | Alter 2 |
| Jadon Prieto | Vereinigte Staaten | Beitritt zu American Mensa mit sieben | Alter 2 |
| Arjun Bithal | Vereinigtes Königreich | Er hatte heimlich IQ-Tests absolviert. Seine Eltern erfuhren erst davon, als | Alter 11 |
| Bianca Mudumbi | Vereinigtes Königreich | Sie dachte, ihr Vater mache einen Scherz. Sie hatte das Maximum erreicht bei | Alter 11 |
| Cyrus Leung | Vereinigtes Königreich | Er erreichte zwei Punkte weniger als das Maximum. Sein Vater meldete ihn an, um ihm zu | Alter 12 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Scored 162 on Mensa's supervised paper at a testing centre in Reading at 11 (Slough Observer)
- Had been taking online IQ tests without his parents' knowledge before the official test
- Attends St Bernard's Preparatory School; plays piano, kickboxing and table tennis (Slough Observer)
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No date of birth published
- No reporting on which secondary school he joined or how he has progressed since 2024
- The Einstein comparison rests on an estimate, not a test Einstein ever sat
Questions people ask about Arjun Bithal
How old is Arjun Bithal?
He was 11 when the Slough Observer reported his Mensa result in 2024, placing his birth around 2013. No date of birth is published.
What is Arjun Bithal's IQ?
A score of 162 was reported by the Slough Observer, obtained on Mensa's supervised paper at a centre in Reading. That is the highest score available to a child on the scale used.
Is his IQ higher than Einstein's?
The comparison is loose. Einstein never sat such a test, and the 160 attached to his name is a retrospective estimate, as the press reports acknowledge.
Why did he take IQ tests in secret?
He was completing them online on his own, without his parents' knowledge. They found out after his 11-plus results prompted questions.
Where does he go to school?
St Bernard's Preparatory School, near Slough. His parents were considering whether to move him.
What does he want to do?
Study mathematics and economics at Oxford, with a possible career in finance. He has also said he wants to change the world for the better.
Who are his parents?
Tarun Bithal, 50 at the time of the report, and Rita Bithal.
Is Arjun Bithal on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on him was identified in the research behind this page.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Arjun’s story?
How did Arjun Bithal's parents find out about his IQ testing?
What score did he get on the Mensa paper?
What does he want to study at Oxford?
Sources
- Slough boy, 11, took IQ tests in secret - now he's joined Mensa — Slough Observer, 2024
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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