Meet the Smarties: They're the scarily bright youngsters vying to be named UK's TOP brainbox - egged on by parents who have given up work to 'push' them and warn them against 'failure'

And after passing gruelling tests of their memory, mental arithmetic and spelling skills, five contestants are now competing to be crowned the brainiest child in Britain. Despite all being under 13, the contestants on Channel 4's Child Genius have already faced questions on complex topics such as foreign currencies and the British rail network. 


Rhea (far left), 10, is given three hours of homework a night, Saffy (centre), nine, counts Shakespeare as one of her favourite authors, Stephen and Georgia are competitive siblings (top right) and Jonathan (bottom right), 12, achieved an A* at French GCSE.