Obedience, intelligence, and hard work are the three qualities that led Mahnoor Cheema, the 16-year-old British Pakistani, to have record-breaking grades in her General Certificate of Secondary Education (GSCEs). But her habit to “beat the clock” is another important factor of her success.

This was the reason that once she fell asleep in the examination hall.

“She is obedient. She has never said NO whenever being asked to sit and study. And this routine has been set, now I don’t have to say and she studies herself,” Tayyaba Usman Cheema, the mother of Mahnoor, said in an interview with Geo News’ show Aik Din Geo Kay Saath.

As a private candidate, Mahnoor passed 17 subjects with A* grades in year 10 and 17 more subjects in year 11 — taking the total count to 34 — and marking the highest number of subjects ever taken by a student in the history of UK and EU GCSEs.

When asked how she increased Mahnoor’s intelligence, Tayyaba said: “Whatever activity we did at our home, whatever conversation we had, we did it productively. This thing gradually developed her IQ.”

She explained that they continued studying and kept positivity at home. In addition to this, Tayyaba organised activities, and puzzles, and played music to utilise their time properly. “Even in the car, we listen to some productive talk and we utilise every minute properly.”

Tayyaba admitted that she is strict in her management to keep her children focused on their studies, but later they developed that interest.

“She [Mahnoor] used to say that I want to do something that no one has ever done and after deciding it she studied different subjects,” said Tayyaba.

Tayyaba added that her daughter has kept herself well-disciplined and uses every single minute productively. “Even during exams, her [Mahnoor] mathematics is very good. She finishes her mathematics exam very early and tells me that I tried to sleep now, rather than wasting time. Then the teacher came and woke her up,” she said.

They moved to the United Kingdom from Lahore because of education, she added.

Describing Mahnoor as a child prodigy won’t be wrong as according to her scribe she learned the English alphabet at the age of six and at the age of one year she started speaking sentences. Mahnoor said her achievement was a combination of intelligence and hard work.

She studies for three to four hours a day and thanks to her intelligence she is able to cover more content.

Mahnoor likes to play the piano, horse riding, swimming and chess in her free time.

She credits her mother’s strategy to study one subject per week for her success.

“The biggest difference between Pakistan and the UK education is that in Pakistan there is an emphasis on facts and knowledge that you have to read things in different subjects. In England, there is less emphasis on reading but they make you analyse those things and invoke your thought process. I would say there should be a combination of both things,” said Mahnoor.