A perfect score, and a suspected prank
Eastern Eye reported in March 2019 that Bianca had achieved a perfect result on the Mensa test: 162, above the figures commonly estimated for Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. She sat the two-hour, two-part examination at Birkbeck, University of London, covering verbal and non-verbal reasoning.
Her first reaction was disbelief. “At first I thought my dad was pulling a prank on me,” she told the paper. “I was dumbstruck.” She had found parts of the verbal reasoning section confusing while sitting it, which is a common experience among people who score at the top of such papers: the difficulty is designed to be felt.
Why her father entered her
Anil Mudumbi, then 42, had noticed how his daughter handled puzzles and put her in for the test. He did not tell her what it was for. His explanation to her was that it would help her understand herself better.
He then misread the result himself. When the score arrived he did not immediately grasp what 162 signified, which is understandable: an IQ figure means nothing without the scale behind it, and most parents encounter one for the first time when their own child's arrives in the post.
What 162 means on this paper
Mensa admits people who score at or above the 98th percentile, the top two per cent of the population. On the paper used with children in Britain, 162 is the ceiling, so a perfect result means every question the test could ask was answered correctly rather than that ability was measured beyond that point.
The Einstein and Hawking comparisons that accompany these stories are decorative. Neither man sat the test; the figures attached to them are estimates assembled after the fact. A measured 162 in a supervised hall at Birkbeck is a firmer thing than either, and also a narrower one: it describes performance on two hours of reasoning questions, and nothing else.
Fantasy novels and global warming
What she wanted to do with it was write. Bianca reads fantasy fiction and wants to be an author, and she told Eastern Eye she was interested in writing for the Mensa newsletter and perhaps running Mensa clubs later on.
She and her father watch astronomy and physics videos together, and she has spoken about worrying over global warming and wanting to contribute to solutions. That combination, an eleven-year-old reading fantasy novels and thinking about the climate, is the ordinary texture underneath a headline about a perfect score.
Zwanzig Fragen, acht Minuten auf der Uhr und ein Perzentil, gemessen an allen bisherigen Teilnehmern. Ohne Anmeldung.
IQ-Test starten →Where Bianca Mudumbi is now
The record consists of one report, from March 2019, when she was in year six at Haberdashers' Aske's Girls' School and living in Pinner. No later coverage was used for this page.
That leaves the obvious questions unanswered: what she studied afterwards, whether she kept writing, whether the Mensa membership led anywhere. She would now be in her late teens. Nothing about her adult life is documented here, and this page does not speculate about a person who was a child when the single available source was written.
| 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 |
| Bianca Mudumbi | Vereinigtes Königreich | Sie dachte, ihr Vater mache einen Scherz. Sie hatte beim Maximum | Alter 11 |
| Arjun Bithal | Vereinigtes Königreich | Er hatte heimlich IQ-Tests gemacht. Seine Eltern fanden es erst heraus, als der | Alter 11 |
| Cyrus Leung | Vereinigtes Königreich | Er erreichte zwei Punkte unter dem Maximum. Sein Vater meldete ihn an, um ihm zu | Alter 12 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Scored a perfect 162 on the Mensa paper at 11, sat at Birkbeck, University of London (Eastern Eye, March 2019)
- In year six at Haberdashers' Aske's Girls' School, from Pinner; entered by her father Anil Mudumbi
- Said she wants to be an author and to write for the Mensa newsletter
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No date of birth published
- No reporting on her since March 2019
- The comparisons with Einstein and Hawking rest on estimates, not tests either man sat
Questions people ask about Bianca Mudumbi
How old is Bianca Mudumbi?
She was 11 when Eastern Eye reported her result in March 2019, placing her birth around 2008. No date of birth is published.
What is Bianca Mudumbi's IQ?
A score of 162 was reported, described as a perfect result on the paper she sat. It is the maximum available on that test.
Where did she take the test?
At Birkbeck, University of London, in a two-hour examination covering verbal and non-verbal reasoning.
How did she react?
She thought her father was playing a prank on her, and said she was dumbstruck.
Why did her father enter her?
Anil Mudumbi had noticed how she solved puzzles. He told her the test would help her understand herself better.
What does she want to be?
An author. She reads fantasy fiction, and spoke about writing for the Mensa newsletter and running Mensa clubs.
Is Bianca Mudumbi on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was identified in the research behind this page.
Where is she now?
No reporting after March 2019 was used for this page, so nothing is stated about her life since.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Bianca’s story?
Where did Bianca Mudumbi sit the Mensa test?
What was her first reaction to the result?
What does she want to become?
Sources
- Schoolgirl scores 'perfect' Mensa result — Eastern Eye, 2019-03-27
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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