The Mensa Test — what to know before taking it

Mensa International is a high-IQ society founded in Oxford in 1946 for people with IQ scores in the top 2% of the general population. The name comes from the Latin word for table — symbolising a meeting of equal minds at a round table. Today Mensa operates in over 50 countries with nearly 150,000 members.

The organisation declares political and religious neutrality. Its goals are: identifying and developing human intelligence, conducting research on the nature of intelligence, and creating an intellectual environment for members.

For the list of national Mensa organisations and contact information, visit mensa.org.

To become a Mensa member, you must score in the top 2% of the general population on an intelligence test authorised by Mensa International. On the Wechsler scale (the most common IQ scale), this corresponds to a score of about 130 or higher. Different tests use different scales — e.g. on the Cattell scale, the threshold is 148.

What matters is the percentile (98), not a specific IQ number. Mensa accepts results from various authorised tests, provided they come from a session supervised by an accredited psychologist.

The official Mensa test is a supervised session conducted by an accredited psychologist. It usually lasts 60–120 minutes. The test consists of two parts: the first measures verbal reasoning, the second non-verbal reasoning (figures, sequences, matrices). At the end, you receive information on whether you qualified for Mensa.

In most countries the test has a fee — current rates can be found on your national Mensa organisation's website. Registration is done through the national organisation's site.

Important: the official test can usually be taken only once per year. Results are confidential and given only to the test-taker.

Intelligence cannot be "learned" in the classical sense, but you can:

• Familiarise yourself with the types of tasks (pattern matrices, number sequences, verbal analogies).
• Get a good night's sleep and arrive rested — IQ test results strongly depend on your condition on the day.
• Don't be stressed — stress can lower scores by several points.
• Take a few practice tests online (such as this service, though orientational — it lets you familiarise yourself with the task formats).

Our CogniveraIQ test is a good starting point for orienting yourself in the types of tasks. However remember: the score on our service is NOT a measure of your official IQ and does NOT qualify you for Mensa.

CogniveraIQ: * Character: educational and entertainment * Format: online, at any time * Time: 8–35 minutes (3 versions) * Price: free * Supervision: none * Qualifying value: NONE * Diagnostic value: NONE

Official Mensa test: * Character: psychometric, authorised * Format: in person, at Mensa premises * Time: 60–120 minutes * Price: usually a fee * Supervision: accredited psychologist * Qualifying value: YES (qualifies for Mensa) * Diagnostic value: limited — full intelligence diagnosis requires a clinical psychologist

If you're interested in formal intelligence assessment or Mensa membership — go for the official test. If you want to orientationally check your logical skills and have fun — our test is for you.

You can find the list of all national Mensa organisations on the official mensa.org site. Each organisation has its own test calendar — dates are usually announced several weeks in advance.

Note: there are many websites on the internet that use the word "Mensa" in their name or URL but are NOT affiliated with the organisation. Mensa International explicitly warns against them. Always verify the address — official tests are organised exclusively by national Mensa organisations, and the starting point is mensa.org.