Mensa

When I was about 17, I joined British (and Irish) Mensa, I kept my membership for a good few years then decided that it was no longer for me.

Mensa accepts people into membership whose IQ is within the range of the top 2% of the population. IQ depends on the test undertaken, I think my IQ fell within the top 1% using the Catell III B test.

British Mensa uses two main tests to identify people's IQ scores, the Cattell III B and the Cattell Culture Fair III A.
A score which puts you in the top two per cent of the population on either of these papers would qualify you for membership of Mensa.
An adult can only get a maximum IQ of 161 on the Cattell III B test.

As different IQ tests were developed, each was given its own scoring system.

Therefore, an IQ of 150 is a meaningless claim unless you know the actual test which was used.

In order to compare one IQ test against another, the scores are converted to 'percentiles', i.e. where a person's score falls in comparison to the rest of the population by percentage.

Mensa offers membership to anyone whose IQ score places them within the top two per cent of the population, no matter which approved test was used.

A top 2% mark in any of these frequently used tests below qualifies you for entry to Mensa. The minimum test mark to get into Mensa is:

• Cattell III B - 148
• Culture Fair - 132
• Ravens Advanced Matrices - 135
• Ravens Standard Matrices - 131
• Wechsler Scales - 132

Few people know this about me. I've never discussed it before.