A YOUNG Roma traveler who barely attended school has set her sights on Oxford University after an IQ test revealed she is brighter than Albert Einstein and Professor Stephen Hawking.

    Nicole Barr, 13, was invited to meet tutors after they found out she is in the global top 1 percent for intelligence.

    The youngster’s attendance at her primary school was patchy, but when she joined Burnt Mill Academy in Harlow, Essex, Britain, teachers spotted her talent and turned her life around.

    She is now on course for straight-A grades after taking a test set by high IQ society Mensa, in which she scored 162 — two points higher than the geniuses.

    Nicole used to live in a caravan with her family, who have been based in the U.K. for generations but moved around regularly.

    Earlier this year, she gave a talk to others in the Roma community while on an all-expenses-paid trip to the European Parliament in Brussels. She said, “I had bad attendance at primary school and my mom struggled to get me to come to Burnt Mill on my first day. But this school has turned my life around.”

    Nicole’s mother said her intelligence has always been apparent, and before the age of 2 she could use simple maths. She could tackle complex algebra before she was 10. Her book of choice is Professor Hawking’s “Brief History of Time.” Meanwhile, her favorite subjects are maths and drama and she is teaching herself Mandarin in her spare time.

    Nicole’s father James, a 36-year-old gutter cleaner and driveway repairman who is separated from her mother and still lives in a caravan, said her achievement is “the talk of the gipsy community.” She took the Mensa test after her father gave her some online IQ quizzes and then drove her to Stevenage to take the official test.

    He said, “The whole community is really proud of Nicole. It’s us saying ‘look, we can do these things as well.’” Nicole has just returned from her three-day trip to Brussels with her mother Dolly Buckland, 34. While there, she took part in the Roma Youth Empowerment conference celebrating the academic achievements of members of her community.

    She said, “There was a roller banner with a biography about me for everyone to read about what I have achieved and what I am interested in. The whole conference was about how much Roma can achieve.

    “People say bad things about Roma that aren’t true and often judge a book by its cover. My mom says people claim to be Roma and do bad things, but our community is civilized and good.”

    After reading of her academic success, Oxford University invited Nicole to visit for a day. Nicole, who wants to study medicine, said, “I’ve never been to a university before, so it was nice to have a look around.”

    The average adult has an IQ of 100, while a score above 140 is considered to be that of a genius. Mensa has 110,000 members worldwide, including 20,000 in the British Isles. Only 8 percent of members are under 16 and just 35 percent are female.(SD-Agencies)