What happened
The Better India reported the result on 8 May 2017, introducing a 12-year-old of Indian origin whose Mensa score was being described as higher than Einstein's and Hawking's. The News Minute and India.com carried the story the same month, both leading on the figure of 162 on the Mensa IQ test. The research record adds that she sat the test in Manchester in April 2017 and attended Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.
The comparison in those headlines is the weakest part of the coverage. Neither Einstein nor Hawking is known to have sat a modern IQ test, so the numbers attached to them in popular culture are estimates rather than measurements. What can be stated is narrower: on the paper British Mensa uses, 162 is the ceiling for a candidate under 18, and she reached it.
What the test result means
Mensa admits people who score at or above the 98th percentile on a supervised test. Membership is access to a society, not an academic qualification, a scholarship or a prediction about a career.
A score at the ceiling of the paper also means the instrument stopped distinguishing at that point. It shows that a candidate is above the test's measurable range, and it cannot say by how much. That is why several British children who reach the news in different years all carry the same number.
Why the story travelled to India
The three outlets that covered her most prominently were Indian, not British, and all three framed the story around her Indian origin. That framing is a recurring feature of coverage of the British Indian diaspora, where academic results are reported at home as national news.
It also means that most of what circulates about her online was written for an audience thousands of miles from Altrincham, by outlets working from the same short original report. Repetition across many websites is not additional evidence, and this page treats the three as a single account.
What is documented, and what is not
Firmly established: the score of 162, her age of 12, the coverage of May 2017 and her stated interest in studying medicine. Recorded in the research record but not confirmed in a page read in full: the school, and the location and month of the test.
Not established at all: her date of birth, her examination results, her university, and anything about her life since 2017. The research record gives a birth year of about 2005, consistent with her age at the time.
Why these stories recur
British Mensa results are among the most reliably covered youth stories in the English-language press. They are cheap to report, easy to verify with the society and carry a number that needs no explanation, which is exactly why the comparison with dead physicists gets attached to them.
The cost falls on the child. A test score taken at 12 becomes a permanent search result, framed in terms no 12-year-old chose. The honest record here is a single verified test result, an ambition named at the time, and silence since, and a page about a person who was a child when the story ran should say so.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- She scored 162 on the British Mensa IQ test in 2017 at 12
- The Better India reported the result on 8 May 2017, followed by The News Minute and India.com
- 162 is the highest score available to a candidate under 18 on the paper British Mensa uses
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No source read states her date of birth
- The school, and the April 2017 test date in Manchester, come from the research record rather than a page read in full
- No source documents her studies or life after 2017
Questions people ask about Rajgauri Pawar
What is Rajgauri Pawar's IQ?
She scored 162 on the British Mensa test in 2017, the maximum available to a candidate under 18. It is a reported test result rather than a fixed measurement.
How old was she?
Twelve. No source read here gives her date of birth.
Is her score higher than Einstein's?
The comparison cannot be made. Neither Einstein nor Hawking is known to have taken a modern IQ test; the figures cited for them are estimates.
Where did she go to school?
The research record names Altrincham Grammar School for Girls in Greater Manchester.
What did she want to do?
Study medicine, according to the coverage summarised in the research record.
Is Rajgauri Pawar on Wikipedia?
The research record found no standalone Wikipedia article about her.
Where is Rajgauri Pawar now?
No source gathered for this page reports on her after 2017.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Rajgauri’s story?
What score did Rajgauri Pawar achieve on the Mensa test?
How old was she at the time?
What career did she name?
Sources
- Meet the 12-Year-Old Indian Origin Girl Whose IQ Is Higher Than Albert Einstein & Stephen Hawking — The Better India, 2017-05-08
- Indian-origin girl beats Einstein and Stephen Hawking, scores 162 on Mensa IQ test — The News Minute, 2017-05
- Indian-origin Rajgauri Pawar outshines Einstein and Hawking to get highest score of 162 in Mensa IQ test — India.com, 2017-05
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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