CAT4 in the UAE: which grades sit it, which level, and why

If your child's school in the UAE has sent a letter about CAT4GL 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., the reason is usually a rule for private schools. Outside Abu Dhabi, the rules we found for each emirate ask schools to test children's reasoning in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9.^{1KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements for the academic year 2026-2027: the grades, new pupils, the three kinds of test, and students of determination.} In British-curriculum schools, these are Years 4, 6, 8 and 10. Each of these grades sits a different version of CAT4, called a level: Level A in Grade 3, C in Grade 5, E in Grade 7 and F in Grade 9.^{2GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules as GL reports them, the testing windows and the table of levels.} In Abu Dhabi, the school chooses whether to give a test like CAT4, and if it does, the school pays, not you.^{3ADEK, School Assessment Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.1, item 12, on tests of the school's choice, and section 3.5, item 13, on sharing results. ADEK, School Student Administrative Affairs Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.2, on admission tests.}

CAT4 measures reasoning, not school knowledge. Its questions are puzzles with words, numbers and shapes. GL Assessment (GL), the company that makes CAT4, sells it only to schools. CAT4 has no pass mark: its main scores compare your child with others of the same age.

The table of levels below has the grade and year for each level, and links to our free practice questions where we have them.

The test in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 is not an admission test: it is for children at the school, and in Dubai for new pupils too. But if you later apply to another school, that school may ask for the results. In Abu Dhabi, a school is not allowed to use a test to decide who gets a place. In Dubai, each school sets its own admission tests, and some use CAT4.

Why your child sits CAT4: a rule in six emirates, a choice in Abu Dhabi

Most emirates have their own authority for private schools. In Dubai it is KHDA (the Knowledge and Human Development Authority), and in Abu Dhabi it is ADEK (the Department of Education and Knowledge). Sharjah has SPEA (the Sharjah Private Education Authority), and Ras Al Khaimah has RAKDOK (its Department of Knowledge). In Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, the Ministry of Education sets the rules. For Sharjah and those three emirates, we found the rule only in a guide by GL, not in a document from the authority itself.^{2GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules as GL reports them, the testing windows and the table of levels.}

Dubai: Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9, and new pupils

KHDA's rules for 2026-27 ask for three kinds of test, and one of them is a test of reasoning, such as CAT4.^{1KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements for the academic year 2026-2027: the grades, new pupils, the three kinds of test, and students of determination.} Further down this page, you can read about the other two tests, which the school's letter may name too.

Today's rules say the reasoning test must measure at least four kinds of reasoning, with words, with numbers, with shapes and with space, but they do not name CAT4. Reasoning with space means imagining shapes in the mind, for example how a folded piece of paper looks when it is opened. The test must not depend on anything learned in a school subject.

Each school chooses a company whose test meets KHDA's rules. The reasoning test your child sits may be CAT4 or a test from another company.

Who sits it:

• Every child in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9, or Years 4, 6, 8 and 10 in British-curriculum schools, so most children sit it every two years. A child who took CAT4, or another reasoning test, in the school year before does not need to take it again.
• Children new to the school this year who have no earlier results from a reasoning test.
• Every child from Grade 3 to Grade 9 in a newly opened school that has not tested reasoning before.

KHDA's rules for these tests apply to schools that teach in English or Arabic. KHDA encourages schools that teach in other languages to take part too. Children take the test on a screen, because KHDA does not allow paper tests.

Some school letters link the test to the "National Agenda". This is the UAE's plan to improve its schools, with targets for each school. In 2016-17, KHDA's rules named CAT4 itself.

In Abu Dhabi, the school decides, and pays

ADEK requires tests of English, maths and science in Grades 3 to 9 (Years 4 to 10). British-curriculum schools use GL's Progress TestsOther GL tests that schools may give as well as CAT4: the Progress Tests in English, maths and science, and the New Group Reading Test (NGRT). for this.^{3ADEK, School Assessment Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.1, item 12, on tests of the school's choice, and section 3.5, item 13, on sharing results. ADEK, School Student Administrative Affairs Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.2, on admission tests.} A reasoning test like CAT4 is not on ADEK's list of required tests.

ADEK's assessment policy allows and encourages schools to give reasoning tests of their own choice. It also says that schools are not allowed to charge parents for these tests. So if an Abu Dhabi school gives CAT4, the school pays for it.

The other emirates: the same four grades

In Ras Al Khaimah, the latest rules we found are RAKDOK's for 2025-26. They require CAT4, or a test like it, for all children in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9.^{4Ras Al Khaimah Department of Knowledge, Assessment Policy Framework, private school assessment requirements for 2025-2026, Table B.} Schools that teach the UAE Ministry of Education's curriculum are not included.

For Sharjah, GL says that SPEA expects CAT4 in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9, and that schools may test other grades as well. We found no SPEA rule saying so, but SPEA's own reports on two Sharjah schools record CAT4 in these grades. For Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, GL says that the Ministry of Education expects CAT4 in the same grades.

Which level your child sits: grade, year and level

Each level is named by a letter and written for one age group. This is GL's table for schools in the UAE:^{2GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules as GL reports them, the testing windows and the table of levels.}

The grades in bold are the four that the rules name. Grades 8 and 9 both sit Level F, and Grades 10 and 11 both sit Level G. Levels X and Pre-A are for the youngest children.

British-curriculum schools count in years, and the year number is one more than the grade number: Year 8 is Grade 7. Schools that count in grades, for example American, Indian or International Baccalaureate (IB) schools, use the grade column.

A school may choose a harder or an easier level than the table shows. For example, a school that tests children just before they move to a new school may use the next level up. If you are not sure, ask the school which level your child will sit.

Some schools follow an Indian curriculum called CBSE. These schools may choose GL's CBSE edition of CAT4. This edition also gives each child's likely results in the CBSE exams in Grades 10 and 12, based on more than 12,000 pupils who follow that curriculum.

Free practice questions

In the table of levels, each level with our free practice questions is a link to them. On each of those pages, every type of question has an example that is already answered, then a question to try, with an explanation. Levels A to G all have the same eight types of question: two tests each for words, numbers, shapes and space. The questions get harder from one level to the next. So a child at another level can use them to see what each type of question asks, but will usually find them easier or harder than the questions at their own level.

Test dates, and what happens on the day

GL gives schools a period of dates for the test, called a testing window. Ask the school for its own dates. For 2026-27, the windows are:^{2GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules as GL reports them, the testing windows and the table of levels.}

• Most schools: 31 August to 20 November 2026 in Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, and 21 August to 20 November 2026 in Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
• Schools that follow the CBSE curriculum, whose school year starts in April: 1 April to 20 November 2026.

GL gives no CAT4 window for Abu Dhabi, where the test is the school's choice, so ask the school for its dates.

The test itself is eight short tests, given in three sessions. Each test has its own clock, which no one can pause. Every test opens with some practice questions without a clock. On the day, your child may go through them more than once.

The timed questions take 72 minutes in all. With instructions and practice, the three sessions take up to 2 hours 15 minutes. Schools may run the three sessions on a single day, with breaks between them, or spread them over two or three days.

Can CAT4 decide whether your child gets a place?

It depends on the emirate and the school.

In Abu Dhabi, no school may decide a place by a test

ADEK's policy on admissions says that a school is not allowed to use a test to decide who gets a place. Its words are: "Schools are not authorized to use assessments as a basis for determining student admissions."^{3ADEK, School Assessment Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.1, item 12, on tests of the school's choice, and section 3.5, item 13, on sharing results. ADEK, School Student Administrative Affairs Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.2, on admission tests.}

Up to Grade 8, a school may still observe a child, interview them, or give them a test. But it may give a test only after it has promised the child a place in a grade, and it may use the results only to plan the help the child needs.

ADEK allows one more use of a test: to choose which grade a child joins. This is about the grade, not about whether the child gets a place. It applies in three cases:

• a child in Grades 9 to 12 (Years 10 to 13) who is moving to a school with a different curriculum;
• a child coming from home schooling or another kind of education outside school, or from a country whose school years do not match the UAE's;
• a child who has been out of school for more than two years.

In Ras Al Khaimah, admission tests are for choosing the grade

RAKDOK's admissions policy of August 2025 does not say whether a test may decide a place. It says what admission tests are for: to choose the right grade for a child, and the help the child needs. Schools must use a test to choose the grade in three cases:

• children in Grades 9 to 12 moving to a school with a different curriculum;
• children coming from outside school, or from a country whose school years do not match the UAE's;
• children out of school for more than two years.

In Dubai, each school sets its own admission tests

KHDA leaves admission tests to each school. Its guide for parents says that a child "will undergo the admission assessment as per the school policy".^{5KHDA, Parents services manual: the steps for joining a Dubai school. RAKDOK, Admissions Policy (August 2025), section 3.2, on admission tests.} KHDA's rules for the tests in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 say nothing about admissions.

Some Dubai schools use CAT4 when they choose new pupils. Repton School Dubai, for example, asks for a recent CAT4 report from children applying for Years 7 to 13, and gives the test to those without one. Dubai College asks for the most recent CAT4 or other standardised test results in its Year 7The 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). applications.

Another school, Dubai Scholars, says that it does not use its assessments to choose pupils, but "to help teachers plan appropriately for each child".

KHDA's policy on including children with special needs (2017) says that a school should not refuse a child only because of those needs.

Elsewhere, we found no rule on using tests to decide a place

For Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, we found no rule on using tests to decide a place.

Wherever you live, if you are applying to a school, ask for its admission policy, and ask what it does with CAT4 results.

What happens to the results: teaching plans, KHDA and inspectors

KHDA gives these reasons for the tests:^{1KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements for the academic year 2026-2027: the grades, new pupils, the three kinds of test, and students of determination.}

• to give teachers a starting point: what each child can do in reasoning;
• to see whether each child's results in school subjects match their reasoning scores;
• to check that the marks the school gives its pupils agree with an outside test;
• to help each school judge its own work and plan improvements;
• to help KHDA watch over schools.

KHDA expects schools to compare children's results in English, maths and science with their reasoning scores. GL says the results help teachers decide whether a child needs extra support or more challenge. For example, if a child's reasoning scores are high but their maths marks are low, the teacher may look into why. GL tells teachers that low scores should never limit what they expect of a child.

KHDA sees the results too: each school signs a form that lets the test company share the school's results with KHDA. KHDA's school inspectors also look at how much children improve from where they started.

No pass mark, and how to see the results

CAT4 has no pass mark, which means your child cannot fail it, and its scores are not marks out of 100. A score of 100 is in the middle, with about half of children of your child's age in the UK scoring more and about half scoring less. Schools in the UAE use these UK figures too, because GL set its scores by testing children in the UK.

GL's reports call any score from 89 to 111 "average". Our guide to CAT4 scores shows how to read each number on the report.

Whether you see the results depends on the school, because GL offers schools a report for parentsGL's CAT4 report written for parents. It shows whether each of the four scores (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial) is below average, average or above average, but not the score itself. but each school decides whether to use it. The report describes each of the four scores (words, numbers, shapes, and space, which means imagining shapes in the mind) as below average, average or above average.

GL also tells schools that a talk with parents about the results is better than a report sent home. If no report comes home, your child's teacher is the person to ask, both for the report and for a short meeting.

In Abu Dhabi, ADEK's assessment policy says that schools must share with parents the results of their own tests and of outside tests, along with school reports. But the rule is in the part of the policy about the tests ADEK requires, so it is not clear whether it covers CAT4. In Ras Al Khaimah, RAKDOK leaves it to each school to decide how and when to share results. For Dubai and the other emirates, we found no rule on this. Wherever you live in the UAE, we recommend asking your child's school whether it will share the CAT4 results with you.

The other tests in the same letter: NGRT and the Progress Tests

The school's letter may name CAT4 beside two other tests, because KHDA asks for three kinds of test.^{1KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements for the academic year 2026-2027: the grades, new pupils, the three kinds of test, and students of determination.}

• CAT4 tests reasoning. It does not check what was taught in school subjects.
• The Progress Tests (PT Series) test what your child has learned in English, maths and science. KHDA also requires a test of Arabic in this group, which may come from another company.
• NGRT (the New Group Reading Test) tests reading. In Dubai, children from Grade 1 to Grade 9 take it three times a year.

These are GL's tests, and your school may use another company's tests instead. KHDA asks schools to compare the results of the other two with the reasoning test.

Special needs and children learning English: GL's limits, and Arabic instructions

In the UAE, children with special educational needs or disabilities are called "students of determination". KHDA asks schools to give them the same help in KHDA's required tests as in their own exams, but for CAT4 that help has limits set by GL, listed below. A small number of children, usually those with the most complex needs, may be excused from the tests. The school must have your consent.

GL's limits for CAT4:

• No extra time. GL's scores come from children who were all given the same time, so extra time could push a score up unfairly. GL says most children reach the last questions in the time given.
• No one reads the questions aloud, not even the word questions.

On screen, any child can choose Arabic for the instructions and the practice questions. The test questions themselves stay in English.

Let the school know if English is new for your child. If your child has studied in English for less than five years, GL says the school may also think about translating the instructions into your child's own language. The questions are never translated. For a child who has studied in English for two years or less, GL says it may be better to leave out the word tests. The school then works from the scores for numbers, shapes and space.

Preparing: a short look at the eight types of question

In our view, a short look at the eight types of question is a good idea before any CAT4 test. On the day, each test begins with a few practice questions, and the timed questions follow straight after. GL says these practice questions "will familiarise the children with the style and format of the questions".^{6GL Assessment, CAT4: information for parents.} We think a child who has seen the types before starts the timed questions more sure of what to do.

GL makes CAT4 for schools and advises against any practice before the test. GL's advice, word for word, is in our guide to the test.

For the test your child's own school gives in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9, we think a short look is enough.

Research on tests like CAT4 has looked at sitting a test again, and at coaching, but not at practice at home, so it cannot tell you whether practice at home changes a score. Our CAT4 practice test page explains what that research did measure, and its limits.

If the school uses the score to plan your child's teaching, a score raised by coaching could, in our view, hide a need for help. For an admission test at a new school, we suggest a little more: some questions with a clock too, so that the clock is not new to your child either. Keep it short and calm. Our practice test has 24 questions with explanations.

Parents' questions about CAT4 in the UAE

Is CAT4 an IQ test? No. GL, which makes CAT4, says its scores should not be read as IQ scores (the scores of an intelligence test). It calls CAT4 a test of "developed abilities": reasoning skills that grow with experience.

In our view, the scores show how well your child reasoned on the day, not a fixed amount of intelligence. Our CAT4 test guide sets out what the scores can and cannot tell you.

Can CAT4 show that my child is gifted? Partly: it can be part of the evidence. GL says that a score of 127 or above for words, numbers, shapes or space suggests that a child may be gifted. For each of the four scores, only about 4 children in 100 score that high. Our guide to CAT4 scores explains what the numbers mean.

Can my child sit it again? Sometimes, if the school agrees. GL says a score may not be reliable if a child skipped many questions, or answered most questions but got only a few right. It suggests a second test at least six months later.

Do we pay for the test? In Abu Dhabi, no: ADEK does not let schools charge parents for reasoning tests they choose to give. In the other emirates, ask the school.

Can my child miss the test? Usually not. In Dubai, KHDA names two exceptions. One is a child who took a reasoning test the school year before. The other is some children with special needs, usually those with the most complex needs: the school may excuse them if the parents agree.

If your child is ill on the test day, tell the school.

My child is in Grade 6 or Grade 8. Will they sit CAT4? If the school says so, yes. Outside Abu Dhabi, each emirate's rules ask for Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9, and some schools test other grades too. For example, one Dubai school tests all of Year 7The 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). (Grade 6).^{7The Westminster School, Dubai, Our school and the UAE: CAT4 "for all students of Years 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and all new students of Years 5 and 9" (Year 7 is Grade 6).}

A Grade 6 or Grade 8 child may also sit CAT4 when:

• they have just joined a Dubai school and have no results from a reasoning test at their earlier school;
• the school opened recently and has never tested reasoning: Dubai's rules say such a school must test every grade from 3 to 9;
• they are applying to a school that gives CAT4 to children who apply.

Children in Grade 6 usually sit Level D, and children in Grade 8 usually sit Level F: see the table of levels. If you are not sure whether your child will sit CAT4 this year, ask the school.

We are moving to the UAE. Will my child sit CAT4? Probably, if the school uses it: new pupils with no earlier results sit it in Dubai, and some schools ask for CAT4 results when you apply.

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.

• Year 7, ·Grade 6, Level D
• 24 free questions, all eight types, Years 6 and 7, ·Grades 5 and 6
• Year 8, ·Grade 7, Level E
• Years 9 and 10, ·Grades 8 and 9, Level F
• Other years have no page yet. Our guide to the CAT4 test shows one example of each type of question. For Years 2 and 3 (Grades 1 and 2), we suggest games, not test papers.

About CAT4

• The CAT4 test, What your child will sit, the test day, and how schools use results
• CAT4 in the UAE, Which grades take it, at which level, and whether it affects admission, This page
• CAT4 in Ireland, 6th class: which level, and why it cannot decide a school place

Your child's scores

• CAT4 scores explained, What a score of 100, 115 or 130 means, and what to ask the school
• CAT4 glossary, SAS, stanine, NPR and the other words on reports and school letters

Notes

1. KHDA, External benchmark assessments requirements for the academic year 2026-2027: the grades, new pupils, the three kinds of test, and students of determination. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. GL Education (the group GL Assessment belongs to), Testing in the UAE: each emirate's rules as GL reports them, the testing windows and the table of levels. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. ADEK, School Assessment Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.1, item 12, on tests of the school's choice, and section 3.5, item 13, on sharing results. ADEK, School Student Administrative Affairs Policy, version 1.2 (September 2025), section 1.2, on admission tests. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Ras Al Khaimah Department of Knowledge, Assessment Policy Framework, private school assessment requirements for 2025-2026, Table B. ↩

5. KHDA, Parents services manual: the steps for joining a Dubai school. RAKDOK, Admissions Policy (August 2025), section 3.2, on admission tests. ↩

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

7. The Westminster School, Dubai, Our school and the UAE: CAT4 "for all students of Years 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and all new students of Years 5 and 9" (Year 7 is Grade 6). ↩