What does an IQ of 103 say?
Yes. An IQ of 103 is in the average range, at or just above the exact middle of the population. You score at least as high as about half of people your age, a solid result for school, work and everyday life.
Where 103 sits on the bell curve
An IQ of 103 is 3 points above the average of 100, or 0.2 standard deviations. It is higher than about 58% of people of the same age, shown by the shaded area below. This is the peak of the bell curve, where more people score than anywhere else.
On other IQ scales, the same result would be about 103 on a test with a standard deviation of 16, such as older editions of the Stanford-Binet, and 105 on the Cattell scale, which uses 24. Why scales differ.
IQ 103 meaning: a closer look
With an IQ of 103, you are ahead of about 58% of people. That is one fifth of a standard deviation above average, a small step but clearly on the upper side of the midpoint. A professional test would usually report a range of about 98 to 108 for this result, which lies wholly within the average band. In daily life, the difference between 103 and 97 is unlikely to be noticeable. Habits, knowledge and practice matter far more.
Twins raised apart and what heritability means for a 103
Since 1979, the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart has given identical and fraternal twins who were separated in infancy a week of intensive psychological and physical assessment. By 1990, more than 100 sets of reared-apart twins or triplets had taken part. Bouchard and colleagues reported in Science that about 70% of the variance in IQ was associated with genetic variation, in line with earlier, smaller studies. Identical twins raised apart were about as similar in personality, interests and social attitudes as identical twins raised together.
It is tempting to read this as "70% of my 103 comes from genes", but heritability does not work that way. It describes how much of the variation between people in a particular population lines up with genetic differences, not how one person's score was built. The authors themselves stressed that the findings do "not detract from the value or importance of parenting, education", and similar support. A 103 IQ reflects what you inherited and the environments you grew up in, working together.
Source: Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal and Tellegen (1990), "Sources of human psychological differences: the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart", Science, 250(4978), 223-228.
How this fits the wider evidence on genes and IQ is set out in our guide is intelligence hereditary?
What 103 looks like among real people
If you lined up 100 people of your age, about 58 would score lower than 103 and about 42 would score the same or higher. The orange dot marks your place in the line.
A score here puts you in the middle of almost any group: about as many people score above you as below.
How precise is a score of 103?
No IQ test measures to the exact point. On a professional test, a result of 103 usually comes with a likely range of about five points either way: 98 to 108. That range runs from the 45th to the 70th percentile, all within the average range.
Because this is the most crowded part of the scale, a retest could easily move you a few places either side of the middle without anything having changed.
On the Assessivo test, 103 is the score for 19 correct answers out of 36. How our score is worked out.
So if you scored 103 once, a retest on another day could reasonably land anywhere from 98 to 108. Online tests are less precise still, so treat any online result as a rough estimate.
IQ 103 and mental age in children
Early IQ tests for children worked with a "mental age", the age whose typical performance a child matched. The IQ was that mental age divided by the child's real age, times 100. Turned around, the formula shows what a score of 103 would have meant for children of different ages: working ahead of their years.
| Real age | Mental age at IQ 103 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 5 years 2 months |
| 7 | 7 years 3 months |
| 9 | 9 years 3 months |
| 11 | 11 years 4 months |
| 13 | 13 years 5 months |
The same 103 stands for a gap of about 2 months at age 5 but 5 months at 13, because the formula scales with age. That is one reason it broke down for teenagers and adults, whose test performance stops rising every year. Today's tests compare you with people of the same age instead, so a mental age is only a way to picture a child's score, never a description of an adult.
What an IQ of 103 means for you
It sits near the top of the average band, which runs from 90 to 109.
- You reason at least as well as the typical person your age on new problems.
- Almost any course or career is open at this level; what you learn and practise matters much more.
- The upper part of this range is close to high average, and practice or a different test could tip it over 110.
How far 103 is from other levels
How 103 compares with nearby scores
Want a score that isn't listed, or the share of people between two scores? Try the IQ calculator.
| IQ | Percentile | Classification | Score this high or higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | 32nd | Average | 68% |
| 98 | 45th | Average | 55% |
| 103 | 58th | Average | 1 in 2 |
| 108 | 70th | Average | 1 in 3 |
| 113 | 81st | High average | 1 in 5 |
Questions about an IQ of 103
What percentile is an IQ of 103?
An IQ of 103 is at about the 58th percentile, which means it is higher than about 58% of people of the same age.
Is 103 a high IQ?
No. 103 is in the average range. High IQ usually refers to scores of 120 or 130 and above.
Can an IQ of 103 get into Mensa?
Not on its own. Mensa accepts the top 2% on an approved, supervised test, which is usually 130 or above. 103 is 27 points below that.
How common is an IQ of 103 or higher?
About 42% of people score 103 or higher, roughly 1 in 2. In a stadium of 50,000 people, about 21,000 would score at this level or above.
Is a 103 IQ inherited from my parents?
Partly, but only in a population sense. The Minnesota study of twins raised apart linked about 70% of IQ variation to genetic differences. That figure describes differences across a group, not the make-up of your own score, and it does not mean schooling or upbringing are unimportant. Your 103 reflects genes and environment together.
What mental age is an IQ of 103?
Under the old ratio formula, a 9-year-old with an IQ of 103 would perform like a typical child of about 9 years 3 months, roughly 3 months ahead. The idea only works for children: an adult who scores 103 simply did better than most adults of the same age on the test.
Is 103 above average?
Slightly above the exact middle of 100, but still inside the average range of 90 to 109, so it is described as average, not above average.
What is the difference between an IQ of 100 and 103?
A small one. Both are in the average range, and with a professional test's margin of about five points either way, their likely ranges overlap.
Is an IQ of 103 good for a student?
Yes. It is right in the middle of the population, and school results depend at least as much on effort, teaching and interest as on IQ.
See how the middle of the scale is set in our guide to average IQ, or what a good score looks like in what is a good IQ score?. To see how averages differ between countries, read IQ by country. Every score range is in the IQ range chart.
Behind a single score of 103 sit several separate abilities. Read about verbal reasoning, processing speed, fluid vs crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning and spatial reasoning, or try the free pattern recognition test.
What would you score?
Take the free Assessivo IQ test: 36 questions, 25 minutes, and your estimated IQ score and percentile as soon as you finish.
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