Mensa: London schoolboy, 11, joins high-IQ society with score of 162

An 11-year-old boy from south London has become one of Mensa's newest members.

Dhruv, who attends Robin Hood Junior School in Sutton, joined the society for people with sky-high IQ in April after scoring 162.

"As a family, we are very proud of him," his father Praveen Kumar said. "I am very lucky to be his dad."

Head teacher Elisabeth Broers said: "He's a delight. He is an all-round good guy, as are many of our children."

Mensa accepts people who score within the top 2% of the general population in an approved intelligence test.

Dhruv, who turned 11 in December, is a big Chelsea fan and was diagnosed with special educational needs in infant school.

His father, who moved to London from India 21 years ago, said: "He was almost at the bottom of the class in Year 2.

"I was crying on the inside, I just wanted him to be an average boy and have a normal life. The teachers said 'He's not learning anything at all'.

"He's completely changed. It's a rags to riches story."

Robin Hood currently has 360 children on its school roll with the "remarkably supportive parents and staff", according to its head teacher.

Ms Broers added: "He's an all-rounder, a lovely boy, talented at art and good at sharing his knowledge and skills with his class.

"He's a happy chap and that's what we aim for. It's the whole child that we're interested in rather than just his IQ.

"We're very pleased for him but all our children are remarkable in one way or another."

Founded in 1946, Mensa counts 140,000 people around the world as members - including 18,000 in the UK and the Irish Republic.

The organisation describes itself as "the world's leading high IQ society", and says it provides its members with a space for like-minds to socialise, stretch themselves intellectually and engage in interesting activities.

The name "Mensa" was chosen because it means "table" in Latin.

A Mensa spokesperson said: "Anyone who registers an IQ score which places them in the top 2% of the population has done remarkably well.

"The score Dhruv achieved therefore is very good and shows he has great potential."

What does Dhruv make of the admission to Mensa? His father added: "He was happy with the results but he doesn't want to talk about it too much."

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