The score, and the comparison attached to it
The reported fact is narrow and clear: Jeyendran obtained a score of 168 on the intelligence organisation's test. Everything that made it a news story is the comparison bolted on afterwards. The Malay Mail headline crowned him Australia's smartest and stated that he had outscored Stephen Hawking, on the basis that 168 is eight points above the figure attributed to the physicist.
That comparison is the weakest part of the story, and the article itself signals as much. It reports Mensa's general standard, that the organisation classifies as gifted those scoring above the 98th percentile, while acknowledging uncertainty about which intelligence scale produced Jeyendran's figure. A score of 168 means different things on different tests, and the article does not say where the number attributed to Hawking comes from at all.
What he said he wanted it for
Asked about his ambitions, Jeyendran gave an answer that runs considerably past the usual: "When I grow up I want to be a biological scientist, I want to try find a cure for cancer. I also want to be a marine biologist to explore the seas and also have my own charity for all the poor people in the world."
Three separate careers and a charity is the kind of list a child produces and an adult trims, and it is quoted here in full because it is the only direct statement from him in the source. It is also the part of the story that has aged best. The score is a measurement of a moment; the answer is a description of what he was interested in.
The family and the move
The Malay Mail describes him as a former Malaysian who migrated to Australia with his parents, both of whom were lawyers. That is the whole of what the article says about his background. It does not give the region of Malaysia he came from, the year the family moved, his parents' names, or any quotation from them.
The record compiled for this page places him in Perth, and the original broadcast was a 9News Perth programme, which is consistent with it. The Malay Mail text itself does not name the city, so the location is treated here as indicated rather than stated.
What a Mensa score is, and is not
Mensa admission tests are supervised assessments used for one purpose: deciding whether a candidate falls in the top two per cent of the population. That is the threshold the article refers to. Above it, the precise figure is a much blunter instrument than a headline suggests, because the scales in use have different standard deviations and their reliability thins out at the extremes.
This page therefore reports the figure as it was published rather than as a fixed property of the person. Jeyendran was reported by the Malay Mail, relaying 9News Perth, as scoring 168 on a Mensa test in April 2016. No source in this record names the specific test, gives the date it was taken, or states his age at the time.
What is documented — and what is not
The firm facts are the reported score of 168, the month and year of publication, his Malaysian birth and migration to Australia, his parents' profession, and his quoted ambitions. The original reporting was broadcast rather than written, which is why the detail is thin.
The gaps are substantial and are left open. No source in this record gives his age at the time, his birth year, his school, his city, the name of the test, or anything at all about what he has done since April 2016. The comparison with Stephen Hawking rests on a figure the article does not source, and is reported here as a claim made by the coverage rather than as a fact about either person.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawson Lundberg | United States | Joining Mensa at 3 | Age 3 |
| Vandan Patel | United States | Being welcomed into American Mensa at 7 | Age 7 |
| Nishi Uggalle | United Kingdom | Winning Channel 4's Child Genius in 2019 | Age 10 |
| Sharvin Jeyendran | Australia | A Mensa test put him at 168, and the headlines put him above Stephen Hawki | — |
| David Camacho | Mexico | Selection for a Jr. NASA programme, 2024 | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Reported score of 168 on a Mensa test (Malay Mail, 8 April 2016, relaying 9News Perth)
- Born in Malaysia and migrated to Australia with his parents, both lawyers
- Quoted ambitions: biological scientist seeking a cancer cure, marine biologist, and his own charity
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The specific test and scale used are not named, and the article itself notes that uncertainty
- The Stephen Hawking comparison rests on a figure the article does not source
- No age, birth year, school or city is stated in the article text
- No published record of what he has done since April 2016
Questions people ask about Sharvin Jeyendran
What is Sharvin Jeyendran's IQ?
He was reported by the Malay Mail, relaying 9News Perth, to have scored 168 on a Mensa test in 2016. That is a reported score, not an independently verified measurement, and the article does not name the test used.
Did he really outscore Stephen Hawking?
The coverage said so, on the basis that 168 is eight points above a figure attributed to Hawking. The article does not say where Hawking's number comes from, so the comparison is reported here as a claim made by the press.
How old is Sharvin Jeyendran?
No source in this record gives his age or birth year. He was described as a teenager at the time of the 2016 report.
Where does he live?
He migrated from Malaysia to Australia. The original report came from a 9News Perth programme, and the record here places him in Perth, but the article text does not name the city.
What does he want to do?
He said he wanted to be a biological scientist and find a cure for cancer, to be a marine biologist, and to have his own charity.
What do his parents do?
Both are lawyers, according to the Malay Mail. Their names are not published in this record.
What does a score of 168 mean?
Mensa's threshold is the top two per cent of the population, which the article describes as above the 98th percentile. Above that line, a specific figure depends on which scale was used, and the article says it is not certain which one applied here.
Is Sharvin Jeyendran on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article was found for him. The source used here is the Malay Mail's report of the 9News Perth broadcast.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Sharvin’s story?
What score was Sharvin Jeyendran reported to have achieved?
Where was he born?
What did he say he wanted to do when he grew up?
Sources
- Malaysia-born teen crowned Australia's smartest, outscores Stephen Hawking — Malay Mail, 2016-04-08
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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