CAT4 Practice

CAT4 Level E practice questions for Year 8 and Grade 7: free, with a PDF

CAT4 Practice is maintained by experienced educators and is free to use. Updated

On this page
  1. Worked example first, then your child alone
  2. A worked example and a question for each type
  3. Is Level E your child's level?
  4. Knowing the types of question before the test day
  5. Level E: eight short tests, 72 minutes in all
  6. Our questions follow GL's description, not GL's questions
  7. Who sits Level E: Year 8, first year in Ireland, and Grade 7
  8. Parents' questions about Level E
  9. All our CAT4 guides
  10. Notes

Here are free practice questions for GL Assessment's Cognitive Abilities Test, fourth edition: for most ages, eight short timed tests of reasoning with words, numbers and shapes, and of imagining shapes in your head, in three sessions. Level E. For each of the eight types of question, there is first a worked example: a question that is already answered and explained. Then there is a question for your child to try, with a detailed explanation of the answer. Your child can do the questions on screen, or you can print them as a PDF.

CAT4 is a test of reasoning, of how well children solve puzzles with words, numbers and shapes. Level E is the version of CAT4 for children aged about 12 to 13. That means Year 8 in England and Wales, and Grade 7 in the UAE and other schools that number their years as grades.

In the UK, CAT4 is often called "CATs". In Ireland, Level E is the level for first year, and a school that tests in 6th class may choose it or Level D. In most of the UAE, the latest rules we found ask schools to test Grade 7 with CAT4 or a test like it.

In Grade 7 or Grade 8? GL Assessment, which makes CAT4, says that Grade 7 sits Level E (this page) and Grade 8 sits Level F. For Grade 8, use our Level F questions (see also the table of levels). Search results can be one level too low for both grades. In the UAE in October 2026, Google showed Level D pages for "cat4 grade 7", and Level E pages like this one for "cat4 grade 8".

Worked example first, then your child alone

  • Read each worked example with your child first. Then let your child try the question after it without help.
  • Let your child choose before looking. When your child chooses an answer, the page shows at once whether it is right, and why each option is right or wrong.
  • If your child chose a wrong answer, talk about it together, starting with why the option they chose is wrong.
  • To print, use the PDF: the answers and explanations are at the back, on a new page. Give your child a pencil, an eraser and rough paper (spare paper for doing sums). On the day of the real test, children get rough paper for the two number tests (number analogies and number series).
  • For more practice about a week later, try our practice test. It has 24 more questions, three of each type, with a clock if your child wants one. They are written for Levels C and D (ages 10 to 12), so they are easier than Level E's, but the eight types are the same. In studies of how students learn, practice spread out over time usually helped them remember for longer than the same practice all at once.Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan and Willingham (2013), Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14: of ten study techniques, practice tests and practice spread out over time were rated the most useful, in studies with students, in laboratories and in classrooms. The gap of a week is our suggestion.

A worked example and a question for each type

Figure classification

Look at the three figures (images) at the top. They are alike in some way. Which answer goes with them?

Worked example

Three figures, each a big shape with a small shape inside: a white circle with a small black circle; a grey square with a small white square; a white triangle with a small grey triangle. Options: A a white hexagon (6 sides) with a small grey pentagon (5 sides) inside; B a grey square with a small white square outside it, below and to the right; C a white pentagon with a small black pentagon inside; D a grey circle with a small white square inside; E a white triangle with a small black circle inside.

C.

  1. Each figure at the top has two parts, so compare the two parts with each other.
  2. In each one a small copy of a shape sits inside a big one of the same shape: a small circle inside a circle, a small square inside a square, a small triangle inside a triangle.
  3. The colours change from figure to figure, and so does where the small shape sits, so they do not matter.
  4. C has a small pentagon (5 sides) inside a big pentagon: the same shape, and inside.
  • A: A has a small pentagon (5 sides) inside a hexagon (6 sides). Count the sides: they are not the same shape.
  • B: B has a small square and a big square, but the small square is outside the big one, below it and to the right. In every figure at the top the small shape is inside.
  • D: D has a small square inside a circle: two different shapes.
  • E: E has a small circle inside a triangle: two different shapes.

Next time: When each figure has two parts, compare the parts with each other: are they the same shape? Is one inside the other? Then check every answer for both.

Question 1

Three figures: a grey arrow pointing right; a white U shape; a black kite (a four-sided shape with a short point at the top and a long point at the bottom). Options: A a white four-sided shape that leans to the right (a parallelogram); B a grey T shape; C a black L shape; D a grey four-sided shape with an upright right side and a sloping left side; E a white house shape whose roof point is to the right of the middle.

Show the answer

B. Each figure has a mirror line (a line of symmetry). A mirror line cuts a shape into two halves that are mirror images: if you folded the shape along the line, the halves would match. For the arrow the line goes straight across, through its point; for the U shape and the kite it goes straight down the middle. The shapes, their colours and their numbers of sides all change. B, the T shape, has a mirror line straight down the middle.

  • A: A (a parallelogram, a four-sided shape that leans) looks the same on both sides at first glance, but it has no mirror line: fold it down the middle, across the middle or from corner to corner, and the halves do not match.
  • C: C, the L shape, has no mirror line: its long arm goes up on the left and its short arm goes along the bottom to the right. Fold it any way and the halves do not match.
  • D: D has one upright side and one sloping side, so its left and right halves do not match; its top is shorter than its bottom, so its top and bottom halves do not match either: no mirror line.
  • E: E looks like a house, but the point of its roof is to the right of the middle, so its two halves do not match: no mirror line.

Next time: When the shapes all look different, check each one for a mirror line: imagine folding it down the middle, across the middle, and from corner to corner. A shape can look the same on both sides at first glance without having one.

Figure matrices

Which answer goes in the box with the question mark? The top two images show a change. Make the same change to the image on the left of the question mark.

Worked example

A two-by-two square. Each of the three images is a triangle with a square corner; of the two sides that meet at the square corner, one is longer. Top row: a grey triangle with its square corner at the bottom left and its longer side going up from it; then the same grey triangle with its square corner at the top left and its longer side going right along the top. Bottom row: a black triangle the same way round as the first grey one, square corner at the bottom left, longer side going up; then a question mark. Options, all black triangles: A square corner at the top left, longer side going right along the top; B square corner at the bottom right, longer side going left along the bottom; C square corner at the top right, longer side going down; D square corner at the bottom right, longer side going up; E square corner at the bottom left, longer side going up.

A.

  1. Look at the square corner (the right angle) of each grey triangle in the top row. In the first image it is at the bottom left; in the second it is at the top left. The triangle has turned a quarter of the way round, clockwise (the way a clock's hands go). Of the two sides that meet at the square corner, the longer one went up from it, and now goes right along the top.
  2. The colour stays the same: grey stays grey.
  3. The black triangle on the left of the question mark is drawn exactly like the first grey one, but black. Turn it a quarter of the way round clockwise and keep it black: its square corner moves to the top left, and its longer side goes right along the top: A.
  • B: B is turned a quarter of the way round the other way (anticlockwise): its square corner moves to the bottom right.
  • C: C is turned half way round: its square corner moves to the top right. That is two quarter turns, not one.
  • D: D is a mirror image of the black triangle (flipped left to right), not turned: its square corner is at the bottom right, and its longer side still goes up. This triangle has no mirror line, so no turn of it looks like its mirror image.
  • E: E is the black triangle with no change at all.

Next time: To see a turn, follow one corner you can always find (here the square corner) and say where it goes, and which way round. Then move the same corner of the shape on the left of the question mark the same way.

The two-by-two square with the answer, A, in the bottom right box, where the question mark was; that box has a thick frame.

Question 2

A two-by-two square. Each of the three images has a black flag on a pole, a grey triangle with a square corner, and a white L shape. Top row: first, the flag at the top left, at the top of its pole, pointing right; the triangle in the middle, its upright side on the left and its square corner at the bottom; the L at the bottom left, its short arm at the bottom pointing right. Then: the flag at the top right, at the top of its pole, pointing left; the triangle in the middle, its upright side on the right and its square corner at the bottom; the L at the bottom right, its short arm at the bottom pointing left. Bottom row: the flag at the bottom left, at the top of its pole, pointing right; the triangle in the middle, its upright side on the left and its square corner at the top; the L at the top right, its short arm at the top pointing right; then a question mark. Options: A the flag at the top left, its cloth at the bottom of its pole, pointing right, the triangle with its upright side on the left and its square corner at the bottom, the L at the bottom right with its short arm at the bottom pointing right; B the flag at the bottom right pointing right, the triangle as in the bottom-left image, the L at the top left with its short arm at the top pointing right; C the flag at the top right, its cloth at the bottom of its pole, pointing left, the triangle with its upright side on the right and its square corner at the bottom, the L at the bottom left with its short arm at the bottom pointing left; D the flag at the bottom right pointing left, the triangle with its upright side on the right and its square corner at the top, the L at the top left with its short arm at the top pointing left; E as B, but the triangle with its upright side on the right and its square corner at the top.

Show the answer

D.

  1. The second image in the top row is a mirror image of the first, as if a mirror stood on a line straight down the middle of the box (the mirror line): left and right swap, and the top stays at the top.
  2. The flag and the L move to the other side, and each now faces the other way: the flag points left, and the L's short arm points left.
  3. The mirror line goes through the middle of the grey triangle, so the triangle stays in the middle. But the triangle is flipped too: its upright side moves from the left to the right.
  4. Do the same to the image on the left of the question mark. The flag moves to the bottom right and now points left. The L moves to the top left; its short arm stays at the top and now points left. The triangle stays in the middle; its upright side moves to the right, and its square corner stays at the top: D.
  • A: A is a mirror image with the mirror line lying flat across the middle: top and bottom swap, so the flag is now at the top left, with its cloth at the bottom of its pole. In the top row the mirror line goes straight down: left and right swap, and the top stays at the top.
  • B: In B the flag and the L move to the other side, but they still face the same way: the flag still points right. The triangle has not changed at all. In the top row every shape is flipped, and the flag and the L also move to the other side.
  • C: C shows the image on the left of the question mark after a half turn, as a wheel turns: left and right swap, but top and bottom swap too, so the flag is now at the top right, with its cloth at the bottom of its pole. In the top row the top stays at the top.
  • E: In E the triangle is flipped (its upright side is now on the right), but the flag and the L have only moved across: the flag still points right, and the L's short arm still points right. In the top row every shape is flipped, and the flag and the L also move to the other side.

Next time: When the whole image changes, follow every shape: where does it go, and which way does it face? In a mirror image, a shape in the middle, on the mirror line, stays in the middle, but it is still flipped.

The two-by-two square with the answer, D, in the bottom right box, where the question mark was; that box has a thick frame.

Verbal classification

The three words in bold (dark letters) are alike in some way. Which answer is another one of the same kind? The answer is not the name for the whole group. For example, for pear, plum and mango, the answer would be another fruit, not the word "fruit".

Worked example

hurricane blizzard thunderstorm

  1. A. storm
  2. B. wind
  3. C. sunshine
  4. D. tornado
  5. E. umbrella

D. A hurricane, a blizzard and a thunderstorm are all kinds of storm: very bad weather. A hurricane brings very strong wind, a blizzard is a snowstorm, and a thunderstorm brings thunder and lightning. A tornado is a kind of storm too: a violent storm in which the wind spins in a tall column.

  • A: "Storm" is the word for all of them together. The answer must be one more kind of storm, not the name of the whole group.
  • B: Wind is moving air. Strong wind is part of many storms, but "wind" is not the name of a kind of storm, and most wind is no storm at all.
  • C: Sunshine is weather too, but it is not a storm. The three words are not just kinds of weather: they are all kinds of storm.
  • E: You might take an umbrella out in a storm, but an umbrella is a thing you carry, not a kind of storm.

Next time: Name the group as exactly as you can ("kinds of storm", not just "weather"). Then check that the answer is one more of that group, not the group's name or something that goes with it.

Question 3

cube sphere cylinder

  1. A rectangle
  2. B circle
  3. C triangle
  4. D shape
  5. E cone
Show the answer

E. A cube, a sphere and a cylinder are all 3-D (solid) shapes: shapes that are not flat. A cone is a 3-D shape too, like an ice-cream cone.

  • A: A rectangle is a shape, but a flat one: it has a length and a width but no thickness.
  • B: A circle is a shape, but a flat one. A cylinder has a circle at each end, but a circle itself is flat.
  • C: A triangle is a shape, but a flat one. A 3-D shape can have triangles on it (a pyramid does), but a triangle itself is flat.
  • D: "Shape" is a wider group: it takes in flat shapes too. The answer must be one more 3-D shape, not the name of a group.

Next time: Name the group as exactly as you can: not just "shapes" but "3-D (solid) shapes". Then answers from the wider group (flat shapes) are easy to rule out.

Verbal analogies

The first two words are linked in some way. Which answer is linked to the third word in the same way?

Worked example

sheep → flock : bee →

  1. A. queen
  2. B. swarm
  3. C. honey
  4. D. sting
  5. E. insect

B. A flock is a group of sheep. In the same way, a swarm is a group of bees.

  • A: A queen is one bee, the one that lays the eggs, not a group of bees. The pair goes from an animal to the word for a group of them.
  • C: Bees make honey, but honey is not a group of bees.
  • D: A bee can sting, but a sting is not a group of bees.
  • E: A bee is an insect: "insect" is the kind of animal a bee is, not a group of bees.

Next time: Make a sentence for the pair: "A flock is a group of sheep." Then make the same sentence with the third word: "A ___ is a group of bees." Only one answer fits.

Question 4

island → sea : oasis →

  1. A palm
  2. B camel
  3. C desert
  4. D shade
  5. E thirst
Show the answer

C. An island has water all round it; here, the sea. In the same way, an oasis has a desert all round it: an oasis is a place in a desert where there is water, so plants can grow there.

  • A: A palm (a palm tree) grows in an oasis. Palm trees are in the oasis. They are not all round the oasis, the way the sea is all round the island.
  • B: A camel may stop at an oasis to drink. But a camel is an animal that comes to the oasis, not what is all round the oasis.
  • D: The palm trees of an oasis give shade (a cool place out of the sun), but the shade is in the oasis, not all round the oasis.
  • E: Thirst is the feeling of needing a drink. Thirsty travellers look for an oasis, but thirst is a feeling, not what is all round the oasis.

Next time: Make a sentence that says how the first two words are linked: "The island has the sea all round it." Then make the same sentence with the third word: "The oasis has ___ all round it." Words that belong with the third word (all four wrong answers here) may still not fit the sentence.

Number analogies

In each pair, the second number is made from the first in the same way. Which answer completes the last pair?

Worked example

[ 3 → 11 ] [ 5 → 17 ] [ 8 → ? ]

  1. A. 24
  2. B. 16
  3. C. 30
  4. D. 20
  5. E. 26

E.

  1. Adding the same number does not work for both pairs: 3 + 8 = 11, but 5 + 8 = 13, not 17. Multiplying by one number does not work either: no whole number times 3 makes 11. So try a rule with two steps.
  2. Compare the pairs. The first numbers of the pairs, 3 and 5, are 2 apart. Their second numbers, 11 and 17, are 6 apart. 6 is 3 times 2, so the rule multiplies by 3.
  3. Then find what else the rule does: 3 × 3 = 9, and 11 is 2 more than 9. So the rule is: multiply by 3, then add 2. Check it on the second pair: 5 × 3 = 15, and 15 + 2 = 17.
  4. Use it on 8: 8 × 3 = 24, and 24 + 2 = 26: E.
  • A: 24 is 8 × 3. It does the first step and forgets the second: add 2.
  • B: 16 is 8 + 8. Adding 8 works for the first pair (3 + 8 = 11), but not for the second: 5 + 8 = 13, not 17.
  • C: 30 is (8 + 2) × 3: the same two steps in the other order, with the same numbers. Check it on the first pair: 3 + 2 = 5, and 5 × 3 = 15, not 11.
  • D: 20 is 8 + 12. Adding 12 works for the second pair (5 + 12 = 17), but not for the first: 3 + 12 = 15, not 11. (20 is also 17 + 3, as if 8 being 3 more than 5 made the answer 3 more than 17. But the rule works inside each pair, from its first number to its second.)

Next time: If neither adding one number nor multiplying by one number fits both pairs, try two steps. Compare the pairs to find the number to multiply by, then find what to add or take away.

Question 5

[ 4 → 15 ] [ 7 → 48 ] [ 9 → ? ]

  1. A 80
  2. B 35
  3. C 81
  4. D 20
  5. E 50
Show the answer

A. Each second number is 1 less than a square number (a number multiplied by itself): 15 is 1 less than 16, and 16 is 4 × 4; 48 is 1 less than 49, and 49 is 7 × 7. So the rule is: multiply the number by itself, then take away 1. 9 × 9 = 81, and 81 − 1 = 80.

  • B: 35 is 9 × 4 − 1. "Multiply by 4, then take away 1" works for the first pair (4 × 4 − 1 = 15), but not for the second: 7 × 4 − 1 = 27, not 48.
  • C: 81 is 9 × 9. It does the first step and forgets to take away 1.
  • D: 20 is 9 + 11. Adding 11 works for the first pair (4 + 11 = 15), but not for the second: 7 + 11 = 18, not 48.
  • E: 50 is 9 + 41. Adding 41 works for the second pair (7 + 41 = 48), but not for the first: 4 + 41 = 45, not 15. (50 is also 48 + 2, as if 9 being 2 more than 7 made the answer 2 more than 48. But the rule works inside each pair, from its first number to its second.)

Next time: Know the square numbers: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, 100. When the second numbers are just above or just below them, try multiplying each first number by itself.

Number series

These numbers are a series: they follow a rule. Which number comes next?

Worked example

10 16 21 25 28 →

  1. A. 31
  2. B. 26
  3. C. 30
  4. D. 34
  5. E. 29

C.

  1. The numbers go up, but not by the same amount each time. Write the jump from each number to the next: + 6, + 5, + 4, + 3.
  2. The jumps get 1 smaller each time, so the next jump is + 2.
  3. The next number is 28 + 2 = 30: C.
  • A: 31 is 28 + 3: it repeats the last jump. The jumps get 1 smaller each time.
  • B: 26 is 28 − 2: it takes 2 away. The jumps get smaller, but each one still adds: the numbers keep going up.
  • D: 34 is 28 + 6: it starts the jumps again from + 6.
  • E: 29 is 28 + 1. The last jump was + 3, so the next jump is + 2, not + 1.

Next time: If the numbers do not go up by the same amount each time, write the jumps between them. Then look for a rule in the jumps.

Question 6

72 40 24 16 12 10 →

  1. A 5
  2. B 14
  3. C 1
  4. D 9
  5. E 8
Show the answer

D. Write the jumps between the numbers: − 32, − 16, − 8, − 4, − 2. Each jump takes away half as much as the one before, so the next jump takes away 1, and the next number is 10 − 1 = 9.

  • A: 5 is half of 10: it halves the last number. Halving the numbers does not work: half of 40 is 20, not 24.
  • B: 14 is 10 + 4: it goes up, but the numbers keep going down, by less each time.
  • C: 1 is the amount the next jump takes away, not the next number. Take it away from 10: 10 − 1 = 9.
  • E: 8 is 10 − 2: it repeats the last jump. Each jump takes away half as much as the one before, so the next takes away 1, not 2.

Next time: If the numbers go down by less and less, write the jumps between them and look for a rule in the jumps: here each jump takes away half as much as the one before.

Figure analysis

A square of paper is folded. Then one or more holes are punched through the folded paper, through every layer. Which answer shows the paper when it is unfolded?

Worked example

A grey square with a crease down the middle and an arrow folding the right half over the left. Then the folded paper with a crease across the middle and an arrow folding the bottom half up. Then the small folded square, in the top left quarter, with one hole near its left side, a little above its bottom edge. Options A to E show the opened square with two or four holes.

B.

  1. Count the layers: two folds, each in half, so the hole goes through 4 layers. There will be 4 holes.
  2. Undo the last fold first: the bottom half folds back down. The hole gets a matching hole in the bottom half, as far below the fold line as the hole is above it.
  3. Then undo the first fold: the right half folds back. Each hole gets a matching hole in the right half, as far from the upright fold line as it is.
  4. The 4 holes make a rectangle, two near the left edge and two near the right edge: B.
  • A: A copies the hole into each quarter without flipping it, so the copies are in the wrong places: the right-hand holes are too near the upright fold line, and the lower holes too near the bottom edge. A fold makes a mirror image across the fold line.
  • C: C turns the hole round the middle of the paper instead of flipping it across each fold line.
  • D: D forgets the second fold (the bottom half folded up), so it has no holes in the bottom half.
  • E: E forgets the second fold too, and it copies the hole into the right half instead of flipping it.

Next time: Undo the folds one at a time, last fold first. Each time, every hole gets a matching hole on the other side of that fold line, the same distance from it.

The paper opened one fold at a time, last fold first. Holes: 1, then 2, then 4.

Question 7

A grey square with a crease across the middle and an arrow folding the top half down. Then the folded paper with a crease down the middle and an arrow folding the left half over the right. Then the small folded square, in the bottom right quarter, with two holes: one in its middle, one near its top right corner. Options A to E show the opened square with four or eight holes.

Show the answer

E. Two folds in half, so each hole goes through 4 layers: the 2 holes punched make 8. Undo the last fold first: the left half folds back, and each hole gets a matching hole in the left half, as far from the upright fold line as it is. Then undo the first fold: the top half folds back up, and every hole gets a matching hole in the top half, as far from the fold line across the middle as it is. The hole in the middle of the small square makes 4 holes, one in the middle of each quarter. The hole near the small square's top right corner makes 4 holes near the left and right edges of the paper, two just above the fold line across the middle and two just below: E.

  • A: A has only the 4 holes made by the hole in the middle of the small square. It forgets the second hole, the one near its top right corner.
  • B: B flips the holes into the top half, but copies them into the left half without flipping: the left half is the same as the right half, so two of its holes are by the upright fold line, not by the left edge.
  • C: C turns the holes round the middle of the paper, a quarter turn at a time, instead of flipping them: two of its holes are by the top and bottom edges, not by the left and right edges.
  • D: D copies the holes into the other three quarters without flipping them, so every quarter looks the same as the small square. A fold makes a mirror image: each quarter is a mirror image of the one beside it.

Next time: With two holes, unfold each one on its own. Here the paper is folded in half twice, so each hole makes 4 holes, one in each quarter, and each quarter is a mirror image of the quarter beside it.

The paper opened one fold at a time, last fold first. Holes: 2, then 4, then 8.

Figure recognition

Which image hides the shape at the top? It is the same size and faces the same way: not turned round, and not a mirror image. Each of its sides is drawn in that image, as a whole line or as part of a longer line. (In the real test, the shape is drawn below the five images.)

Worked example

The shape to find: a four-sided shape with a flat top, an upright left side, a flat bottom longer than the top, and a right side sloping out as it goes down. Below it, five images, each a rectangle divided by a few lines.

E.

  1. Start with the shape's most unusual side: its sloping right side, which leans out to the right as it goes down.
  2. In E that sloping line starts on the top edge and goes down to the right. It carries on past the shape to the bottom edge of the black rectangle, but only its top part is a side of the shape.
  3. The shape's top is part of the top edge, its left side is part of the left edge, and its bottom is the flat line inside E, which ends where it meets the sloping line: E.
  • A: A has the shape as a mirror image: its sloping side is on the left.
  • B: B has the shape as a mirror image from top to bottom (like a reflection in water): its sloping side leans in, not out, as it goes down.
  • C: C has the same shape, but bigger: about one and a half times as wide and as tall.
  • D: D has a shape with a much shorter top, so its sloping side is longer and leans more.

Next time: Find the shape's most unusual side first, then look in each image for a line that leans the same way. The side may be only part of a longer line, so check where the shape's corners are.

Image E with the hidden shape shaded grey and its sides drawn thick.

Question 8

The shape to find: a five-sided shape with a flat top and a flat bottom of the same length, an upright left side and a point on the right, nearer the top than the bottom. Below it, five images, each a rectangle divided by several lines, some of them going right across and some sloping.

Show the answer

A. The shape is on the left of A. Its left side is part of the left edge of the black rectangle. Its top and its bottom are parts of the two long lines that go right across the rectangle, from edge to edge. Its point is made by two sloping lines, a short one above and a longer one below, so the point is nearer the top than the bottom, as in the shape to find.

  • B: B has the shape as a mirror image: it points left.
  • C: C has the shape as a mirror image from top to bottom (like a reflection in water): its point is nearer the bottom, with the longer sloping line above.
  • D: D has the same shape, but bigger: about one and a half times as wide and as tall.
  • E: E has a shape with a shorter bottom, so its lower sloping line is longer and leans more.

Next time: When long lines run from edge to edge, a side of the shape may be only part of one. Find the shape's corners where lines meet, then check each side between them, its length and which way it leans.

Image A with the hidden shape shaded grey and its sides drawn thick.

Is Level E your child's level?

Level DLevel ELevel F
Usual age11 to 1212 to 1313 to 15
England and WalesYear 7Year 8Years 9 and 10
ScotlandS1S2S3 and S4
Northern IrelandYear 8Year 9Years 10 and 11
UAE, and other schools with gradesGrade 6Grade 7Grades 8 and 9

American, Indian and International Baccalaureate (IB) schools use the same grade numbers as the table's UAE row. Schools in the UAE that follow the UK curriculum use years, as in England. In the Republic of Ireland, children finish primary school in 6th class and start secondary school in first year (see CAT4 in Ireland).

The school chooses the The version of CAT4 for an age group, named by a letter: in England and Wales, usually D for Year 7, E for Year 8, F for Years 9 and 10. Each child is compared with children of the same age.. Most schools follow GL's table of levels, and GL says that other choices are unusual.GL Assessment, Choosing a test type and level (UK), and for grades, Choosing a test type and level (international). One such choice is the next level up, for children tested before they change schools. So an Irish secondary school that tests its new pupils during 6th class, before they arrive, may give them Level E rather than Level D. GL's own set of tests for first years in Ireland includes CAT4 Level E.

If the school gives you your child's CAT4 report, the level is printed at the top, as "Level: E". It is the name of the version, not a score. If you are not sure which level your child will sit, ask the school.

If this is not your child's level, see the list at the end of this page.

Knowing the types of question before the test day

In our view, it helps your child to have met each type of question before the test day. In the real test, each of the eight tests starts with an example and a few practice questions, with no clock. GL says these "will familiarise the children with the style and format of the questions".GL Assessment, CAT4: information for parents. The questions on this page show the same eight types earlier, at home.

GL makes CAT4 for schools, and it advises against any practice before the test. Our guide to the test gives GL's advice in its own words. The choice is yours.

We found no study of what practice at home, like the questions on this page, does to CAT4 scores. A large review of studies of tests like CAT4, with school pupils as well as adults, did not measure it either. Our practice guide explains what that review did measure, and its limits.

Level E: eight short tests, 72 minutes in all

Level E has the same eight short tests as every level from A to G, in three sessions. Each test has a strict time limit, and on screen, a timer that cannot be stopped counts down. The tests come in pairs, and each pair is one of CAT4's four parts, called GL's word for one of the four parts of CAT4: verbal (words), quantitative (numbers), non-verbal (shapes and patterns) and spatial (imagining shapes in the mind). Each part has two short tests.. Your child's report gives a score for each battery, named for what it reasons with: verbal for words, quantitative for numbers, non-verbal for shapes and patterns, and spatial for shapes your child must imagine.

The names of the tests are GL's, as printed on the report, and "figure" means an image.

  • Figure classification: finding the image that shares something with three others.
  • Figure matrices: seeing how one image changes in a grid, then making the same change to another.
  • Verbal classification: finding a word of the same kind as three given words.
  • Verbal analogies: seeing how two words are linked, then finding a word linked in the same way to a third.
  • Number analogies: finding how the second number of a pair is made from the first, then completing another pair the same way.
  • Number series: finding the next number in a row.
  • Figure analysis: imagining a square of paper being folded, punched with holes and opened out, and choosing how it looks.
  • Figure recognition: finding which image hides a given shape.
Session Tests, by battery In the real test About how long for one question (our estimate)
1 Non-verbal: figure classification and figure matrices 10 minutes each 25 seconds
2 Verbal: verbal classification and verbal analogies 8 minutes each 20 seconds
2 Quantitative: number analogies 10 minutes 30 seconds
3 Quantitative: number series 8 minutes 30 seconds
3 Spatial: figure analysis and figure recognition 9 minutes each 30 seconds
All eight 72 minutes

How we worked out the time for one question

How many questions each test has is not published. GL's guidance for teachers has a table of the highest number of marks a child can get on each battery (each pair of tests), with one mark for each right answer. The highest is 48 for verbal, 48 for non-verbal, 36 for quantitative and 36 for spatial, and the table does not say which levels it is for.

We divided each pair's time by its marks. The two non-verbal tests have 20 minutes for 48 marks: 25 seconds a question. The two quantitative tests have 18 minutes for 36 marks: 30 seconds a question, for number series as well as number analogies. The real time for one question may be different in each test. These marks are not CAT4 scores: a score shows how your child did compared with others of the same age, and the middle score is 100.

Harder words, two-step number questions, and screen or paper

  • Some number analogies may need two steps, such as doubling and then adding 1: 4 becomes 9, and 6 becomes 13. These start at Level C, so they can come up in Level E.
  • The words are chosen for each level. GL's own example: "windy" might be used at Level A, but "hurricane" at Level E.
  • The test may be on a screen or on paper, depending on the school, so ask if you want to know. GL lists its paper version for the UK, and offers it to schools in Ireland too. In Dubai, the rules allow only tests on screen. On paper, children mark their answers in pencil on a separate answer sheet.

Our questions follow GL's description, not GL's questions

We wrote every question ourselves, to match GL's description of each type. None of them is GL's, and GL does not recommend any practice materials, including these questions. The types come in the order the real test uses. We chose each question to show something that its worked example does not.

The real test has many more questions of each type, and some are harder than others. So one question shows your child what each type of question is like, not how they will do in the real test.

Who sits Level E: Year 8, first year in Ireland, and Grade 7

  • In Year 8. In the UK, CATs are not compulsory, and Parentkind, a parents' charity, says about half of secondary schools use them. GL's own advice is to test at the start of The first year of secondary school in England and in British schools abroad, for children aged 11 to 12. Year 6 is the last year of primary school (age 10 to 11). and once more in Year 9 or 10, so Year 8 is not one of the years it names. Still, a school may test every year group, as one in Manchester did in September 2024. And GL says that a pupil who joins a school at any time of year can sit CAT4.
  • In Ireland, in 6th class or first year. Many secondary schools in Ireland use CAT4. Some test children in 6th class, months before they arrive; others test them after they start first year. Our page on CAT4 in Ireland explains which level a school may choose, and what the results are for.
  • For a place at a school. Some schools use CAT4 in their entrance test. One school in Bournemouth uses it to test children who apply to join part-way through secondary school, at the level for their year group. A school in Dubai uses it for children who apply for Year 7 or Year 8.
  • In the UAE. In every emirate except Abu Dhabi, the latest rules we found ask private schools to test Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 with CAT4 or a test like it.GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules and GL's level tables, including for Indian-curriculum (CBSE) schools in Dubai. For Dubai, KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements, 2026-2027. Those grades take Levels A, C, E and F. In Abu Dhabi, a test like CAT4 is the school's choice. Our page on CAT4 in the UAE has each emirate's rules.

In the UAE, scores compare your child with UK children of the same age. Schools that follow CBSE, a curriculum from India, may use a CBSE edition of CAT4 instead. It compares each child with the results of more than 12,000 children who follow that curriculum, and gives an idea of their likely results in the Grade 10 and Grade 12 exams.

Parents' questions about Level E

Can I download Level E questions as a PDF? Yes, as a PDF, with the answers at the back. There are no official practice papers to download: GL sells CAT4 only to schools, and its own practice questions come in the real test, a few before each of the eight tests. GL also has a short video for pupils.GL Education, Student pre-testing essentials: a short video for pupils, before they sit CAT4.

My child is in 6th class in Ireland: Level D or Level E? It is the choice of the secondary school that is testing your child, so ask that school. GL's table gives Level D for a test during 6th class, and Level E for one at the end of 6th class, but does not say when the end begins. A school testing children before they join it may also pick Level E, the next level up. Both levels have the same eight types of question, so either set of our questions shows your child what each type asks: Level D, or the questions above.

Will my child's Year 8 score be close to their The first year of secondary school in England and in British schools abroad, for children aged 11 to 12. Year 6 is the last year of primary school (age 10 to 11). score? Probably, though not exactly; we found no GL study of children tested one year apart. GL followed 3,883 pupils from Level D to Level F, two years apart. Of those pupils, 9 in 10 had a The average of your child's four CAT4 scores (add them and divide by 4): one number for the whole test. The school's report may call it the mean, the mean SAS or the overall score. (the verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial scores averaged) within 10 points of their first one.GL Assessment, CAT4 UK technical report, section on the consistency of scores: the Level D and Level F study, with how much the mean score changed and how closely each of the four scores matched. Any one of the four scores can move more: see how much change is normal in our scores guide.

Can an older child be given a harder level? Usually not, because schools choose the level by year group, from GL's table, not by each child's age. A harder level is not meant to give a lower score: at every level, your child's score compares them with others of the same age, in years and months. One limit: Level E's scores are worked out for children aged 11 years 6 months to 13 years 11 months. A child older than that is scored as if they were 13 years 11 months old, and a younger child as if they were 11 years 6 months old.

My child freezes when a clock is on the screen: what can help? Add the clock step by step on our practice test: first three questions of one type with "Time this set", then all 24 with "Time all 24 questions". In the real test, the practice questions before each test have no clock, and your child can do them again, so they can get used to the questions before the timer starts. When a test's time is up, it ends, finished or not, so practise leaving a hard question and going on to the next one.

How long does Level E take? GL allows about 2 hours 15 minutes, in three sessions, with the instructions and practice questions. The eight tests themselves take 72 minutes.

Are the word questions read aloud? No. On screen, the instructions are read aloud, but your child reads the word questions alone.

Can I work out my child's CAT4 score from these questions? No. For a real score, GL compares your child's answers with those of a large group of UK children of the same age. Questions done at home cannot do that. In our view, what these questions can show is which types are new to your child.

My child has already sat it: what now? Not every school sends the results home. Some keep them for teachers, so you may need to ask. On the report, 100 is the middle score for your child's age, and scores from 89 to 111 cover about half of all children.

If your child was unwell or upset that day, tell the school. If your child left many questions unanswered, or answered most but got few right, GL tells schools to treat the score with caution. It says that testing again at least six months later may show more of what your child can do. Our scores guide explains each part of the report, and what to ask the school.

All our CAT4 guides

Practice questions for your child's year

Worked examples and questions of each type, every answer explained. Each level page also has a PDF of its questions, with the answers. In Year 7 (Grade 6), we suggest starting with the Level D page, then the 24 questions for more practice.

About CAT4

Your child's scores

Notes

  1. Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan and Willingham (2013), Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14: of ten study techniques, practice tests and practice spread out over time were rated the most useful, in studies with students, in laboratories and in classrooms. The gap of a week is our suggestion. ↩

  2. GL Assessment, Choosing a test type and level (UK), and for grades, Choosing a test type and level (international). ↩

  3. GL Assessment, CAT4: information for parents. ↩

  4. GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules and GL's level tables, including for Indian-curriculum (CBSE) schools in Dubai. For Dubai, KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements, 2026-2027. ↩

  5. GL Education, Student pre-testing essentials: a short video for pupils, before they sit CAT4. ↩

  6. GL Assessment, CAT4 UK technical report, section on the consistency of scores: the Level D and Level F study, with how much the mean score changed and how closely each of the four scores matched. ↩