Passing Chemistry O Level aged 7

Ainan Celeste Cawley, passed Chemistry O level aged 7 years and 1 month. That is the news in Singapore...but what does it mean to pass Chemistry O level so young?

Firstly, for readers around the world, I had better explain what Chemistry O level is. O Level is a rigorous exam that tests knowledge and thinking skills in an exacting way. Why do I say "exacting" - well because it was designed for the more academic students - the top 20% of the population and thus most students would not be able to pass.

The Board Ainan took was the London Edexcel Board. This Board sets a high standard and requires a lot of thinking from the student - it is not simply an exercise in memory as some Boards are.

O Level is normally taken by sixteen year olds. The average candidate would, therefore, be sixteen and a half years old. Since the brightest 20% of students are the ones the exam is aiming at; to pass it one would need a mental age of 18.645 years. This is derived from the IQ score and the age thus: the deviation IQ of 113 is the same as the ratio IQ (in this case) of 113. IQ as a ratio is mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100. Therefore the mental age of O level students who pass would be expected to be: 1.13 times 16.5 years, which is 18.645 years.

Ainan is not 18.645 years old - he was seven years and one month when he took the exam - so passing means something interesting. It means that, in terms of his scientific reasoning capability his ratio to the norm is: 18.645/7 years 1 month. This equals a ratio of 2.63. That is Ainan is at least 2.63 times more precocious than average. In terms of IQ, were this a fair estimator of ratio IQ, which it is likely to be since it involves scientific reasoning which will have a large component of g, in it - the general intelligence factor - it would represent a ratio IQ of 2.63 times 100 or 263 IQ. This is a ratio IQ estimate which is different from a deviation IQ estimate.

Yet, this is likely to be an underestimate of his precocity - for he has already read the A level texts and is working on a University text. That latter text is suited to a 20 year old Chemistry student. The average IQ of a chemistry student is 124. This corresponds to a ratio IQ of 125. Therefore the average mental age of a 20 year old Chemistry student would be 25. Using this to generate a ratio IQ for Ainan giving his age as 7 years and three months - the time when he started to read the University book, would give a ratio IQ of 349.

This should be regarded as an accurate measure of precocity, at least - for it uses actual achievement as a marker for development.

As you can see, this gives an idea of how precocious a child is who passes exams so early. It is an indicator of prodigious development, simply because to pass them at all, one must show adult level intelligence, in the area of interest.

A child prodigy is a child who develops adult level ability/skill in an adult domain by the age of 11. Very few children do this. However, to find them, we might look to children who have shown that they can handle the complex demands of an adult academic subject, very young.

By the way, a comparison can be made to American High School graduation. O Levels are accepted for direct entry to American Universities, indicating that they are at least as challenging as High School is, academically. This should allow Americans to understand the achievement of passing O Level, at seven years and one month, therefore.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)