Everyone is curious about their IQ. The topic of human intelligence sparks a lot of curiosity and passion in most people.
In some cases, knowing your IQ might be a strict necessity; maybe you need it as an admission requirement in a specific institution or you need it to diagnose a learning difficulty or a mental health problem.
However, the reasons why the general public takes IQ test assessments are actually quite varied. For instance, maybe you do it for self-discovery or self-improvement reasons, for career choice purposes, or maybe you just need to take a wonderlic practice test and get an accurate estimation of your IQ before going through a job recruitment process. Others just take it as a sort of intellectual challenge (and want to see how they compare against others).
The bad news is that an IQ assessment is not cheap, it can cost between $300 and $1000 (depending on the country you live in and the psychologist you attend).
But there is some good news too. If your main drive falls within the latter categories, for instance, you feel curious about your IQ score and seeing if you are smarter (or sillier) than others, then the good news is that it might not be strictly necessary to go to a psychologist.
In these cases, the accuracy that certain online official IQ tests provide is more than enough. In addition, an online intelligence assessment will save you from the hassle of commuting to a psychologist’s office. Let’s see how and where you can exactly take an official IQ test online.
How to take an official IQ test online? 3 sites to take one
After doing our research, we have found certain sites where it is possible to take an IQ test that is reliable and accurate enough. These tests have a specific set of questions that you need to answer within a specific time. The questions are mostly logical, visual, and mathematical, aimed at testing your general reasoning ability. You don’t need any previous preparation. So how to take an official IQ test exactly? Well, just keep reading. Here’re the best 3 ways to take an (affordable) official IQ test online.
Official IQ Test.org
Taken by thousands of test takers all over the world, this test has been mentioned and recommended by education psychologists on sites like research gate. Margarita Parra, an expert on the subject, defines this test, in her own words: ‘As a great tool If the use case of the IQ test is going to be recreational, for training and practice purposes, or to obtain a broad estimate of someone’s IQ.’
Like with any other in-person IQ test, your IQ score will be derived from comparing your intellectual performance across a series of abstract reasoning items against the performance of all the other test takers.
The price of the assessment is $22.9, which is considerably cheaper in comparison to assessments taken in person (which, as previously mentioned, can cost between $300 and $1,000). The results are also instant, you will receive them immediately after completing checkout.
However, the only drawback is that it cannot be used for diagnostic purposes, only tests administered under the supervision of a certified professional can.
Mensa IQ Test
Mensa is a very popular organisation that has developed IQ tests for more than +30 countries. Anyone can request them to get tested. All that is needed is to get in touch with them via their website. After this, you will receive their test by email, which you will need to complete in the time requested. The test is not fully automated. Thus, it will require some human revision and manual scoring; you should receive the results in one or two weeks. The cost depends on the country you are in (or in the country version of the test you requested). In general, the price ranges between $40 and $100.
Mensa UK IQ Test
If you are from the UK, you can choose to take the Mensa UK IQ Test instead. The only difference between this one and the previous one is the population sample that was used to develop the assessment tool; Mensa UK was developed and normed with sample populations from the United Kingdom. In other words, your intellectual performance in the test will be compared against the performance of other test takers, but in this case, these test takers are only from the UK.
Final thoughts
booking an appointment with a psychologist and spending tons of money might not be the best option to find out your IQ unless you need it as part of a broader medical or psychological diagnosis/assessment.
There are certain online and more affordable options that are -more or less- equally valid. It’s true; their degree of reliability and accuracy won’t be as high as with in-person assessments, but they might still be of great help.
Let’s say that your real IQ score was 137, instead of paying $1000 for a psychologist to tell you it is 138, you can just pay $22.99 and be told it is 130 or 145– which will still point you in the right direction.
Ellen Diamond did her degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. She is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
