By Samantha Jones-
A year after securing an unconditional offer to study medicine at the University of Oxford, Mahnoor Cheema, 18, continues to attract attention for an academic record that places her among Britain’s most exceptional young students.
Cheema, who has an IQ reportedly measured at 161, achieved an extraordinary 34 GCSEs before progressing to sixth form, where she initially planned to take an astonishing 31 A-levels. Concerns from teachers that she may have been taking on too much eventually led her to reduce the number, but her final workload remained far beyond the standard three subjects normally taken by sixth-form students.
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Her academic achievements have included A* grades across a wide range of disciplines, with her studies spanning subjects including psychology, sociology, law, business, accounting, economics, Latin, German, computer science, politics, classical civilisation, mathematics, further mathematics, geography, media studies, physics, chemistry, biology, English literature, French and statistics.
Cheema had previously said she felt “bored and understimulated”, studying just three A levels , arguing that her enthusciasm for learning allows her to handle a workload that would be overwhelming for many other students.
“Absorbing content and analysing and evaluating things comes naturally to me,” she said previously, explaining that she tries not to take on more than she can manage.
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The appeal appears to extend well beyond examinations. She has described the examinations themselves as simply the qualification at the end of a process that she enjoys for the knowledge it provides. She has also rejected the idea that her achievements are solely the result of memorisation, pointing to subjects such as film studies and English literature, which require creativity, analysis and independent judgement.
Her extraordinary academic ability was evident from childhood. Cheema was born in the UK before moving with her parents to Lahore, Pakistan, in 2010. The family returned to Britain in 2016, and her mother, Tayyaba Cheema, has recalled that her daughter was noticeably different from a young age.
By the age of six, Mahnoor had read all seven Harry Potter books, while by 11 she was said to have memorised the Oxford English Dictionary. She has described her memory as simply being unusually strong, saying that she can often read material once and retain it,without needing to make extensive notes.
Despite the pressure that might be expected to accompany such an exceptional workload, her family insists that her achievements are driven by her own interests rather than parental expectations. Her mother, who holds a master’s degree in economics, has said she gives her daughter the freedom to choose her own path, while encouraging her to do whatever she chooses to the best of her ability.
Cheema’s unconventional routine has also attracted attention. She has previously described sleeping for several hours after school, waking in the evening to study before returning to bed in the early hours. Her mother helps organise her timetable while ensuring there is still room for friends, travel and hobbies. Her academic ambitions have not stopped at examinations. Cheema has spoken of her desire to give a TED Talk one day, while medicine remains her chosen university path.
Nadia Naz, a researcher and former teacher with a Masters in education, told The Eye Of Media: Cheema’s story is remarkable not simply because of the sheer number of examinations she has taken, but because of the breadth of subjects she has pursued. From mathematics and sciences to languages, law, politics and the arts, her academic journey reflects an unusually wide-ranging appetite for knowledge.
”Cheema’s extraordinary record offers a striking example of what can happen when exceptional ability is combined with an intense curiosity and determination to learn.It confirms that there are people with exceptional level of talent, usually inherited through generations of hard work from very high;y intelligent forbears.
”Some people who come from many generations of extremely committed and talented people, end up producing offsprings with not just exceptional intellectual talent, but also exceptional level of zeal and ambition. She is not only very clever and gifted, but exceptionally very clever and gifted. Just imagine the exceptional talent she will pass on to her children.”
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