IQ 68

On the standard scale, 68 sits 32 points under 100. You scored higher than 1.6% of people, and about 1 in 61 people score at this level or lower. It sits 2 points below 70. The label for this part of the curve is Below Average.

A score under 70 on a single online test does not mean anything clinical. Only a qualified professional, such as a clinical or educational psychologist, can assess that, using supervised tests and a look at everyday functioning.

A result in this range often reflects the test as much as the person. Timed abstract puzzles are unfamiliar to many adults, especially anyone who left education a while ago or who learned in a different language.

Retest gains of a few points are well documented once a format is familiar. First attempts at any unfamiliar kind of test tend to be the least representative.

Online scores are estimates with wide error bars. For 68, a 5-point window either way runs from about 63, where 1 in 147 score that low or lower, to 73, where it is 1 in 28.

Professional assessments combine several subtests (verbal, visual, memory and speed) and look at the pattern between them, not just one total. A single online total cannot show that pattern.

Your screen, your connection, background noise and interruptions all affect a timed test. A phone in a busy room is a very different test from a quiet desk.

Small day-to-day changes are enough to move a score around 68. A shift of 5 points, from 68 to 73, would move you from the 1.6th to the 3.6th percentile, so it helps to know what causes those swings.

• Sleep. A short night reliably hurts working memory and attention, the two things timed puzzles lean on hardest.
• Language. Questions that rely on words or written rules favour native speakers. Visual puzzles reduce this effect but do not remove it.
• Timing and comfort. Hunger, a headache or testing late at night can all pull a score down on the day.

If IQ follows the standard bell curve, 1.6% of people score 68 or lower. Here is what that share means across whole populations:

The curve fills up quickly towards the middle. Moving from 68 to 73 adds about 2 percentage points of people at or below you, and moving down to 63 removes about 1.

What your 68 could really be. If you retook a well-made test, landing at 63 or at 73 would be unremarkable. That is the difference between beating 0.68% and 3.6% of people, and short online tests are noisier still.

Which scale was it on? A 68 reported on an SD 16 scale converts to about 70 on the usual SD 15 scale, and one from an SD 24 scale (seen in some Cattell-style results) to about 80. Check which scale your score report used.

Nobody famous has a verified IQ in most cases, and retrospective estimates are only made for a narrow group.

No historical figure on this site has an estimate close to 68. Retrospective estimates cluster between about 115 and 250 because they are only made for people with exceptional achievements. That is a selection effect, not a sign that famous or successful people cannot score 68.

The scores one and five points either side of 68, plus the round numbers from 100 to 150, side by side. Tap any score for its full page.