2.2% of population falling below IQ range of 70 are termed as:

The correct answer is Option (2) → Intellectually disabled

Option (1) Mentally fit — Incorrect. ‘Mentally fit’ is an everyday phrase for good mental health; it is not a label for any IQ range, and certainly not for the lowest one.

Option (2) Intellectually disabled — Correct. About 2 per cent of the population have an IQ above 130 and a similar percentage have an IQ below 70; those in the second group are termed intellectually disabled. In the classification of IQ scores the range below 70 is labelled ‘intellectually disabled’, with 2.2 per cent of the population.

Option (3) Borderline — Incorrect. ‘Borderline’ is the label for the IQ range 70-79, just above the range asked about, and it covers 6.7 per cent of the population. People in this range are below average but are not termed intellectually disabled.

Option (4) Prodigy — Incorrect. The highly talented are sometimes called ‘prodigies’, which is the far opposite end of intellectual functioning.

Note: The original NTA paper printed Option (3) as ‘Mentally Challenged’. The official NTA Answer Key accepted both Option (2) and Option (3) as correct, because ‘mentally challenged’ is an older, general expression for people whose intellectual functioning is well below average, so it also describes the group with an IQ below 70. In NCERT (2025-26) this group is termed ‘intellectually disabled’, while ‘borderline’ is the label of the IQ range just above 70. Therefore, to leave a single correct answer, Option (3) has been changed to ‘Borderline’, for the benefit of students.