A 12-year-old girl from Willesborough has achieved the highest score possible for an under-18 in a Mensa test – and is now dreaming of becoming Prime Minister.

Ophelia Gregory, a pupil at Highworth Grammar School in Ashford, travelled to London for two-and-a-half hours of testing at the high IQ society out of curiosity.

She scored 162 on the Cattell IIIB test, the highest that can be achieved by someone under 18 - putting her within the top 1% in the country.

Ophelia said: "I was just curious to see how smart I was. I was hoping to get into Mensa but I didn't think I would get the top score. I am quite proud.

"I told some of my friends, but only one of them knew what Mensa was and that was because they saw it on The Simpsons.

"There are a few career paths I could follow but I would quite like to be a politician – I plan to go for Prime Minister.

"I regularly listen to radio programmes and I'm lucky enough to be in a family that discusses political issues.

"I really don't understand the way the country is being run at the moment."

Mother Kerry said: "She scored higher than Einstein or Stephen Hawking. We've always been curious about Ophelia and she was up for doing the test.

"She's getting an excellent education anyway, and we're getting help from Mensa, but we hope her school will now support her to reach her full potential."

Father Tom said: "Ophelia has always had a great interest in politics and current affairs and likes to call radio talk shows and give her opinions.

"We knew she was smarter than the average 12-year-old from the things she talks about and the questions she asks.

"She's being quite modest, but we're very proud of her."

Ophelia has three brothers, aged between two-and-a-half and 10, and she plays the violin and double bass.

She hit headlines twice as a pupil at Willesborough Junior School – first when she made and sold felt poppies to mark Remembrance Day 2012 and again the following year when her group won the school's enterprise competition after setting up a business selling soft drinks.

John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa, said: "Ophelia's score shows she has great potential and we are pleased to welcome her to Mensa. We hope she will enjoy being part of the society and interacting with fellow members."

Albert Einstein is widely believed to have had an IQ of 160, although modern-day testing was not available during his lifetime.