A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl from Winchester, England, has been accepted into Mensa with an IQ of 159 – a single IQ point below Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein.

The average adult IQ score is 100, according to Mensa.

Heidi Hankins, 4, has been classified as a genius. The toddler taught herself how to read and was able to count to 40 at the age of two.

Heidi’s father told Sky News that his daughter was a “typical” child in most ways, but that he would often find her sitting down and reading a book.

John Stevenage, chief executive of British Mensa, congratulated Heidi’s parents for identifying her “great potential”.

The signs of a gifted child, according to Mensa, is an usually good memory, an awareness of world events, musical talent, reading at an early age, constantly asking questions and an intolerance of other children, reports the BBC.

Another British child, Oscar Wrigley, became the youngest member of Mensa in 2009. He was just two-and-a-half years old when he scored an IQ of 160.