Gloucestershire boy, 12, achieves top score in Mensa test

Atticus loves chess and has ambitions of becoming a grandmaster

A chess-loving schoolboy has achieved the top score for his age group in the Mensa test, which measures IQ.

Atticus, aged 12, from Gloucestershire, scored 162, putting him in the top 1% for intelligence for his age.

He loves word puzzles and maths questions, but his main interest is chess and he has ambitions to become a grandmaster.

"I was very pleased because I didn't expect to score so high. I feel proud of myself," said Atticus.

The 12-year-old said he had been scoring about 145 in IQ tests online but wanted to take the official Mensa test to check if they were accurate.

"I was just curious to see if they were correct or not and they were incorrect and lower," he added.

Atticus had to complete 10 tests for Mensa, which included finding patterns between words and decoding languages.

"I didn't find it that difficult. It was actually quite easy.

"It's the largest score someone of my age can achieve. It raised my confidence," he said.

What is Mensa?

Mensa is a high-IQ society which accepts people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on an approved intelligence test.

It was founded in England in 1946 by barrister Roland Berrill and Dr Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer.

It has 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.

Atticus' mum Gwen said her son's high intelligence ran in the family and she was yet to beat him at chess.

"He's a lot like my brother and father who were both really analytical and very intelligent," she added.

Gwen said she had always been proud of her son and his intelligence had been evident from a young age.

Atticus' mum Gwen said she knew her son was intelligent from a young age

"He loved taking things apart and seeing how they worked. I knew he was intelligent, he was very analytical and likes to know how the universe works.

"It's nice to have an intellectual conversation with him - but it usually has to be about chess or science.

"Whatever he does he'll succeed," she added.

A three-year-old boy from Portishead in North Somerset became the UK's youngest member of Mensa in January after teaching himself to read.