STEPHEN Hawking, Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are all thought to have an IQ of 160, but a Sale teenager has beaten them all, having recently been told she has an IQ of 161.


Iyal Kannan, who is 13 and lives on George’s Road, has been accepted into the prestigious Mensa society as a result of her score, which is in the top one per cent of the population – all the more impressive as Mensa only requires its members to be in the top two centile.


And this is not the first time Iyal has recorded an outstanding academic achievement, as when the Withington Girls School student was in Year Six, she got full marks in all Trafford’s grammar schools 11 plus exams, including altrincham, Sale and Stretford grammar schools.


But according to her mum, Vannamalar Selvaraasan, Iyal is very relaxed about her achievements.


“I think she decided to take the exam because some friends had mentioned it at school.


“I’m obviously pleased for her and I think she’s pleased too, but she’s quite a quiet girl so she’s not really showing it.”


Vannamalar, who is a GP, said the whole family are ‘delighted’ with Iyal’s achievement.


However, Iyal is not the only family member in Mensa, her father, Issam Kannan, a consultant pediatrician, took the IQ at the same time and was also accepted to the IQ society, although his score was not as high as Iyal’s.


Although the teenager is considering following her parents into the medical profession, Vannamalar said she loves maths and hopes to pursue a career in that sector.


Iyal has am 11-year-old brother who is in Year Six at Manchester Grammar School.