The Mensa IQ test: what it is and what score you need

Short answer: Mensa admits people who score in the top 2 percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that was properly supervised, according to Mensa International's testing FAQ. The IQ number that meets that bar depends on the test: American Mensa lists a Full Scale IQ of 130 on the Wechsler scales, 132 on the Stanford-Binet (130 on its fifth edition) and 148 on the Cattell (qualifying-scores list; we read both pages on October 28, 2026). In the US you can take Mensa's own supervised admission test or send a qualifying score you already have. Mensa's free online IQ Challenge is for practice and cannot get you in.

The Mensa tests at a glance

These are the main routes, as American Mensa and Mensa International described them on their own pages on October 28, 2026:

• Mensa IQ Challenge (free, online): 35 puzzles in 25 minutes, according to Mensa International's challenge page, with questions written by Olav Hoel Dørum. It is "for entertainment purposes only" and does not qualify you.
• American Mensa practice test (online, paid): 30 minutes, scored only for people 14 and older, sold only to US addresses (American Mensa's practice-test page). It does not qualify you.
• Mensa Admission Test (supervised, US): the test that qualifies you, open from age 14 and taking one to two hours (American Mensa's testing page). That page gives a list price of $60 at a local group session or $99 at a private testing facility.
• A score you already have: a supervised result on a test Mensa accepts, such as a Full Scale IQ of 130 on a Wechsler test given by a psychologist; nearly two-thirds of members join this way (American Mensa's past-scores page).
• An online IQ test from another site: a quick estimate for your own interest. American Mensa does not accept unsupervised tests, including unsupervised internet-based tests, as proof.

Prices and rules change, so check the linked page before you book.

What score do you need for Mensa?

Mensa has a single rule, stated as a percentile rather than an IQ number. Mensa International's testing FAQ, read October 28, 2026, says membership is open to people who score "within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised", and that there is no other qualification for joining.

The IQ number changes because tests use different scales. Mensa International's "What is IQ" page set the peer-group average at an IQ of 100, gave 16 and 24 points as examples of a standard deviation, the usual spread of scores, and put Mensa's cutoff at 132 on the Stanford-Binet and 148 on the Cattell. The US Supreme Court put the standard deviation on an IQ test at "approximately 15 points" in Hall v. Florida (2014), and the Stanford-Binet 5 uses 15, according to the Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism Training summary of the test (read October 28, 2026). American Mensa's qualifying-scores list gave 132 for the Stanford-Binet and 130 for the Stanford-Binet 5, so we read the 132 as applying to editions before the fifth. Mensa International's testing FAQ, checked on October 28, 2026, puts it this way: "A result on one test of 132 can be the same as a score of 148 on another test."

By our calculation on the normal curve, each published cutoff sits the same distance above the average: (130 − 100) ÷ 15 = 2 standard deviations on a scale whose standard deviation is 15 points, (132 − 100) ÷ 16 = 2 on a 16-point scale and (148 − 100) ÷ 24 = 2 on a 24-point scale. That puts all three published cutoffs at the same place: two standard deviations above the average, the 97.7th percentile of the normal curve.

The exact 98th percentile would be about 130.8, 132.9 and 149.3 on those three scales (our calculation), so Mensa's round numbers sit a fraction below it. Our guide to IQ percentiles shows how to turn any score into a percentile, and our article on an IQ of 130 covers that score in detail.

Qualifying scores by test

American Mensa publishes the scores it accepts from earlier testing. Its own pages give the total as about 150 tests in two places and about 200 in two others, and the list itself "is not a complete list of accepted tests/scores". These entries come from American Mensa's past-scores list as we read it on October 28, 2026:

• Wechsler scales: a Full Scale IQ of 130 on the WAIS through WAIS-IV, the WISC through WISC-V and the WPPSI through WPPSI-IV. "The Wechsler tests must be given in their entirety," the page says.
• Stanford-Binet 5: IQ 130.
• Stanford-Binet, listed without an edition number: IQ 132.
• Cattell: IQ 148.
• Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales: IQ 130.
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities: IQ 132 on editions I to III and 131 on edition IV; the Woodcock-Johnson achievement tests do not count.
• CogAT (composite SAS) and OLSAT (total SAI), tests many school districts give: 132.
• SAT: 1300 if taken before September 30, 1974, and 1250 if taken from then to January 31, 1994, with no SAT accepted after that date.
• ACT: a composite of 29 if taken before September 1989, and not accepted after.
• GRE: accepted only if taken before September 30, 2001.
• LSAT: the 95th percentile rank, if taken after 1982; the page explains the lower bar by saying LSAT takers are not a normally distributed sample, since they have probably completed three to four years of college.
• ASVAB: not accepted, and the AFQT counts only if taken before October 1980.

American Mensa applies each cutoff by the date you took the test, whenever you apply. The WAIS-5, the fifth edition of the Wechsler adult test, was not on either of American Mensa's lists when we read them on October 28, 2026. If your score comes from it, ask American Mensa before you rely on it. Our guide to the WAIS explains how that test works.

The free Mensa IQ Challenge online

The Mensa IQ Challenge is a free test on Mensa International's site. Mensa International credits Olav Hoel Dørum as the creator of the questions and scoring, and thanks him, test-engine developer Tedd Hansen and Eivind Olsen, a former Chair of Mensa Norway, for permission to use the test. It runs in English and several other languages, Norwegian and Spanish among them. "This challenge involves trying to solve 35 puzzles within 25 minutes," the challenge page says, and the puzzles get harder as you go. Mensa's own pages, as we found them on October 28, 2026, say this about what the result is worth:

• It does not qualify you. The challenge "is provided for entertainment purposes only, and your score will not qualify you for Mensa." Mensa International's FAQ calls it "not an official IQ test".
• It has a floor. The challenge page says a score under 100 comes back as "outside the range that the test is currently able to measure."
• Scores move. The page says it is "common to get different scores on IQ tests, even if it’s the same test taken at different times", and that you can take it as many times as you like.

Mensa gives no reliability or accuracy figure for the challenge. If you score well, the page suggests you might consider "a properly administered and supervised IQ test."

Supervision matters for a reason beyond Mensa's rules. Scherrer and colleagues, writing in the Journal of Intelligence in 2025, compared proctored and unproctored online intelligence testing in a low-stakes study with groups of 74 to 77 people. They write that "cheating is possible without proper supervision". In their experiment, proctoring had no significant overall effect on scores but "showed a significant interaction with test type", so its effect differed by type of task. Observable cheating under proctoring was rare (4%) in the 2025 study, and Scherrer's team concluded that proctoring "is crucial for easily cheatable tasks, such as memory tasks, but currently less critical for complex cognitive tasks."

American Mensa's practice test

American Mensa also sells an online practice test. Its page said on October 28, 2026 that the 30-minute test "will not qualify you for membership", that it is scored only for people 14 and older, that it "cannot be used as qualifying evidence of prior testing", and that it can only be bought with a valid US address. The page did not list the price when we read it.

How the US Mensa admission test works

The Mensa Admission Test is the supervised test that can qualify you. American Mensa's testing page set out these details on October 28, 2026:

• Where you take it: at a session proctored by Local Group volunteers, or privately at one of the "more than 400 approved testing facilities nationwide". The private test is given electronically.
• How long: "The Mensa Admission Test takes between one to two hours to complete," the page says.
• Price: a list price of $60 for a local group session and $99 for private testing. When we read it, the page also offered a time-limited discount, so check the page for the current price.
• Age: 14 and older, since Mensa is "unable to offer testing for individuals under the age of 14". Its Gifted Youth Admission page gives the reason: "security concerns, as well as testing constraints".
• On the day: bring a photo ID with proof of your date of birth.
• Results: private testing promises results in days.
• Retakes: the page says "Individuals may take a test or test battery once every eight weeks". Someone who has taken every available test without qualifying can still send evidence of earlier testing.

The US test answers a single question, whether you qualify, and gives you nothing else. American Mensa says it "is given for the purpose of admission into Mensa and not to quantify intelligence." It adds: "We are not able to provide a detailed report with scores, percentile ranks, or your IQ score", and cites Psychology Board of Texas regulations as the reason. A qualifying result means you tested "at, or above, 98 percent of the general population," American Mensa's testing page says, and its join page says you are then qualified for life. The join page listed membership dues of $107 a year when we checked both pages on October 28, 2026, with discounts for family members and multi-year memberships. For how the session compares with clinical testing in length, see how long an IQ test takes.

Joining with a score you already have

Sending an earlier score makes sense if you were tested at school, by a psychologist or for an older college admissions test. American Mensa's past-scores page says that "nearly two-thirds of Mensa members join by submitting evidence of scores from prior intelligence testing." Its rules, from that page and its Qualifying Score FAQ as we read them on October 28, 2026:

• Original paperwork. "All documentation must be the original or a notarized copy of the original."
• A supervised test. Tests "must be administered by a neutral and qualified third party in a traditional testing environment." American Mensa does not accept unsupervised tests, "specifically unsupervised testing administered electronically, or via internet-based tests."
• What a psychologist's report must show. The full name of the test, the score and the percentile rank, on letterhead, with the psychologist's signature and state license number. For a Wechsler test, Mensa requires the Full Scale IQ, so every subtest needed for it must have been given.
• Ability tests only. Mensa does not accept achievement tests, such as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. "Generally, we accept tests that measure aptitude or ability."
• No blended SAT scores. Answering a question about the SAT in its Qualifying Score FAQ, American Mensa says it does not accept "blended scores or those from more than one test administration."
• Old scores count. "Scores are acceptable forever as long as they meet our admission requirements."
• Review time. The Qualifying Score FAQ says evaluating prior scores "should only take two to four weeks."

For children under 14, this is the only way in: on its Gifted Youth Admission page, read October 28, 2026, American Mensa says it does not test candidates younger than 14 and accepts scores from tests that schools, testing facilities or private psychologists give, "typically for gifted education placement." If you need a supervised test first, our guide to where to take an IQ test covers psychologists, school testing and university clinics.

Mensa outside the US

National Mensas publish their own testing details, and Mensa International says the price of its tests "vary from country to country." These differences stood out on the national pages we read on October 28, 2026:

• British Mensa offers a supervised test online. Its online test is "Taken in a fully proctored, secure online environment", through ProctorU with a webcam, and candidates need proof of address and "must reside in the UK or Ireland". British Mensa's online-test page says the test "consists of two adaptive tests", a non-verbal diagrammatic test of fluid reasoning and a vocabulary test, and that a score at the 98th percentile on either test or both combined qualifies. That page promised results within 10 days and a resit after six months for a candidate who misses.
• British Mensa's in-person test gives you a score. After its in-person test, "you will receive your IQ score", unlike the US test. British Mensa's test page priced its supervised tests, in person or online, at £49.00 and said candidates "must be over the age of 10 and a half". The same page also listed a 45-minute Mensa Home Test at £15.00; it gives an indicative score and does not qualify.
• Mensa Canada has dropped its practice test. "Mensa Canada no longer offers the Home / Practice Test," its page says, and it points people to the Mensa IQ Challenge instead.

Mensa's pages do not all agree on online testing. Mensa International's FAQ says "online tests cannot be used for admission to Mensa", while British Mensa's remotely proctored online test qualifies. The difference is supervision: the British test is proctored through a webcam, and the free challenge has no supervision at all. The same FAQ says Mensa International is in the final stages of moving to computerized adaptive testing, which picks each question from a large bank to match the candidate, so that "there is no answer key that could be leaked."

Practicing for the Mensa test

Mensa's own answer is the practice options above, and none of them counts toward membership. Mensa International gives "the increasing likelihood that test items can be leaked online" as a reason it is moving to adaptive testing. Our article on whether you can study for an IQ test covers what research says about practice and retakes.

What a Mensa result tells you, and what it does not

A qualifying result tells you that, on a single supervised test on a single day, you met the cutoff Mensa treats as the top 2 percent (Mensa International's testing FAQ, read October 28, 2026). In the US it tells you nothing more, because American Mensa does not release the score. Like any test result, it carries error, and Mensa's own challenge page warns that scores differ between sittings.

American Mensa says its admission test is given "for the purpose of admission into Mensa and not to quantify intelligence." Neither a pass nor a miss diagnoses anything. Our guide to what an IQ test measures explains what a score covers.

Taking an online test first

Some people take an online test to decide whether booking the Mensa test is worth it. WhatIQ's test is an option: 24 timed picture puzzles, about 15 minutes, scored with item response theory on the standard IQ scale (average 100, standard deviation 15), with the 90% range your score most likely sits in (whatiq.com, read October 28, 2026). It is an estimate from a single short sitting, not a clinical assessment, and American Mensa does not accept unsupervised online tests, ours included. A high online score is a reason to look at the supervised options above. It does not guarantee a qualifying result.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Mensa online test accurate?

Mensa does not publish an accuracy figure for its free IQ Challenge. It calls the challenge "for entertainment purposes only", and the test cannot measure scores under 100, its page said on October 28, 2026. Treat the result as practice; it is neither a qualifying score nor a clinical one. For IQ tests in general, see our guide to whether IQ tests are accurate.

How much does the Mensa test cost?

In the US, American Mensa's testing page lists $60 for a local group session and $99 for a private testing facility, with a time-limited discount on offer. British Mensa's test page put its supervised tests at £49.00 when we checked both sites on October 28, 2026. Prices vary by country, Mensa International says, so check your national Mensa's page.

Can you take the Mensa test online?

In the US, no: American Mensa's admission test is taken at a local group session or an approved testing facility, and it does not accept unsupervised internet tests. British Mensa offers a fully proctored online test, watched through a webcam, that can qualify you, but only for residents of the UK and Ireland. Mensa's free online IQ Challenge does not qualify anywhere.

How often can you retake the Mensa test?

American Mensa's testing page says you can take a test or test battery once every eight weeks. In the UK, a candidate who misses on British Mensa's online test can resit after six months, according to that test's page; we read both pages on October 28, 2026. If you have taken every available American Mensa test without qualifying, you can still send evidence of earlier testing.

How old do you have to be to take the Mensa test?

American Mensa tests people 14 and older, its testing page says. Its Gifted Youth Admission page, read October 28, 2026, says children under 14 can still join with a qualifying score from a test a school, testing facility or private psychologist gave, "typically for gifted education placement." Mensa International's testing FAQ adds that "many tests are not valid for people under the age of sixteen". British Mensa's supervised tests were for candidates over 10 and a half when we checked its test page on October 28, 2026.

Does a Mensa qualification expire?

Not with American Mensa. Its Qualifying Score FAQ says "Scores are acceptable forever as long as they meet our admission requirements." For older tests such as the SAT, the past-scores list notes that "the acceptance date applies to the date you took the test, not the date you join Mensa." And once you qualify, the join page says: "After you qualify for Mensa membership, you’re qualified for life". We read each of these pages on October 28, 2026.