A kind stepdad volunteered to take an IQ test alongside his brainy stepson to calm his nerves – and they BOTH qualified for membership of Mensa.
Reiss Sanders, 10, suffered a last-minute bout of nerves before the Cattell III B test, so stepdad Stephen offered to take it as well.
And, to their surprise, they both scored enough to join Mensa – with Reiss’ score of 100 per cent officially making him a genius.
The football-mad youngster and stepdad Stephen took the Cattell III B test – around 300 questions – at their closest centre to their home in the village of Upchurch, Kent.
Reiss, who took the famed IQ test in his Arsenal football kit, scored 162 – the maximum possible for his age.
And Stephen had an IQ of 142 – meaning they have both been admitted into the high IQ society.
Mum Rebecca Sanders-Hall, 37, who says while she always thought her son was a genius, was “so proud” for Mensa to officially call him one.
She said: “He’s always been ahead of his years when he’s done academic work.
“As a young boy he was fast to pick up numbers, shapes, and this was before his second birthday.
“As he’s gone into education he has always been very advanced where we’ve got to the point we’ve realised in the last 12 months the way he thinks is different to other kids. He’s very astute.
“He’s a complete sponge and grasps material differently. He’s pretty exceptional.
“Everyone says that about their child, so you don’t want to just say that, but we thought why not test it?
“We looked at doing the Mensa test but the earliest they say you can do it as at 10 and a half.
“That happened 16 January, so we booked it at the earliest convenient time of the 29th.
“A couple days before he got really nervous. He’s quite small in stature so he was worried about doing it with all the adults in the room.
“My husband, who was quite curious about his own results, said that he would come and do it with him.
“They went along and they both found it really tough. My husband, in particular, thinks he found it more tough!”
Stephen Sanders-Hall said: “I did it to support Reiss, most of all. it was an adult environment and that sort of thing can be very stressful but there are things that you can do to make it relaxed.
“He had me there, so that was one thing. I also gave him my watch as he couldn’t see the clock on the wall.”
The Cattell III B test, which includes a lot of verbal reasoning, is one way to measure IQ, or intelligence quotient.
The average score is said to be around 100, with a top score of 162 for children and 161 for adults.
Rebecca added: “We got my husband’s results first, and he got into Mensa, and that was pure excitement.
“I was nervous because I thought about how to break it to Reiss that he didn’t get in.
“But then his came through, it was full marks and Mensa had categorised him as a genius.
“It was sheer excitement. I always thought he was gifted, different to other children, but it wasn’t a tried and tested situation.
“I’m immensely proud of him.”
For husband Stephen, he joked while he might have been “eclipsed” by his stepson, he went into the test to be supportive.
Rebecca said: “He got 142, while Reiss got 162 – the highest for his age.
“He went into this to be supportive, and the fact that they’re both in Mensa is incredible.
“The focus is on Reiss. He has to live with the fact his stepson beat him!”
Reiss is now looking at completing his GCSE mathematics this year and is busy learning trigonometry, chemistry and physics.
He read Lord of the Rings at age six and has shown a “thirst for knowledge” since he was three or four.
And on the flip side, he has a close circle of friends and is a keen football player.
Mrs Sanders-Hall added: “I hope he uses his academic brain, but he really loves football too. He’s not sure what he wants to do yet.
“He went into the Mensa test in an Arsenal football kit. He’s a walking contradiction.
“While we encourage our kids to do their best, we never pushed it on him so I think he wanted to do it for himself.
“I’ve never had any concerns about him. He’s a football-playing, Arsenal supporting fun loving normal 10 and a half year old but he’s got this incredible mind.
“He’s already suggested going to Oxford or Cambridge. This is something he would like to do. What he would be studying I’m not sure yet.
“We have looked at grammar schools, especially at St Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School in Rochester, Kent.
“It would really celebrate the side of him that is mathematically minded and push it along.”
While online cosmetics business owner Rebecca says she thinks her son has “natural gifts”, she says she also tutored her kids and hoped to fill in the gaps left by school.
She said: “This is before even lockdown happened that I did a lot of tutoring with the kids and fill in the gaps that schools missed.
“But we’ve always been focused on doing the right thing and being a supportive unit for each other.
“Reiss is definitely the brainbox of the family!”
Stephen said he was happy to take on the role of stepdad after meeting Rebecca five years ago and marrying her three years ago.
He has three daughters of his own, and Rebecca has another son as well as Reiss.
He said: “It’s the hardest job in the world being a stepparent. Anyone can be a dad but being a stepdad is so difficult.
“Patience is the biggest thing. It’s an honour to be involved in other children’s lives and to contribute especially when you get so much back.
“Reiss is just very content and happy to have me there. Rebecca is just such a strong mother. We have a balance that works, and it helps that we have a good relationship with the boys’ dad as well.
“It’s about commitment, and putting kids first. That’s the only way to do it.”
