The CAT4 Test: Scores, Learning Profiles and School Admissions

A CAT4 report can help a school discuss a pupil's reasoning strengths and learning needs. It is not a national 11+ result, an IQ diagnosis or an offer of a school place. Read the report alongside the school's explanation, classwork and other assessment information.

Start with the Standard Age Score (SAS) for each battery and the mean SAS. Then look at the confidence information and the school's comments. Ask what the result will change about teaching or support, rather than treating a band label as a verdict on the child.

What CAT4 assesses

CAT4 is GL Assessment's Cognitive Abilities Test. Its four batteries cover verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and spatial ability. These concern reasoning with words, shapes, numbers and visual images. They are not four curriculum subject marks.

GL's parent guidance says schools use the results with other information to understand learning and potential. Only schools can buy the assessment. A commercial practice product sold to a parent should not be confused with an official CAT4 result.

Ask the school which test level and format it is using and how the sessions will be arranged. CAT4 is timed, but the introductory information and practice examples are untimed and can be repeated. GL says when CAT4 is given "will vary according to each school’s calendar and the purpose for which the results will be used", so there is no single national sitting date.

Scores, percentiles and stanines

GL's quick data guide explains three national comparison measures:

• SAS: an age-adjusted score, with an average of 100.
• National Percentile Rank (NPR): the proportion of same-age pupils scoring at or below that result in the reference sample.
• Stanine: a broad band from 1 to 9.

A report may also give a group rank, which compares the pupil with the tested group rather than the national sample. A national percentile is not the percentage of questions answered correctly.

GL's published band table

SAS	Stanine	Percentile band	GL description
127 and above	9	97 and above	Very high
119 to 126	8	90 to 96	Above average
112 to 118	7	78 to 89	Above average
104 to 111	6	59 to 77	Average
97 to 103	5	41 to 58	Average
89 to 96	4	23 to 40	Average
82 to 88	3	12 to 22	Below average
74 to 81	2	5 to 11	Below average
73 and below	1	4 and below	Very low

The descriptions refer to score bands, not to children as people. Stanines 4, 5 and 6 form GL's average group; 2 and 3 form its below-average group. Only stanine 1 is labelled very low.

For example, 112 falls in stanine 7, whose published percentile band is 78 to 89. This does not give the exact NPR for that individual score. Use the NPR on the report. A one-point movement across a band boundary should not be interpreted without the confidence information.

The lookup below follows GL's band table, but describes the top and bottom bands as the top or bottom 4 in 100 children rather than as percentile ranges. It does not calculate admission eligibility or an exact percentile.

GL's teacher guidance gives reporting limits of 59 to 141 for levels Pre-A to G and 69 to 131 for the shorter X and Y levels. The same number range should not be imposed on every other assessment sold as a standardised test.

What a verbal or spatial profile means

GL compares the verbal-reasoning and spatial-ability batteries to describe an even profile or a mild, moderate or extreme verbal or spatial bias. Its data guidance explicitly says that this suggested bias may not be one observed in the classroom.

This is not evidence that a child has one fixed learning style or cannot learn through another approach. Ask the teacher how the scores, confidence bands and everyday work fit together. A score difference alone does not diagnose dyslexia or another learning difficulty.

Access arrangements and language experience

Discuss needs with the school before testing. GL's SEND and EAL guidance says its advice can depend on the purpose and the pupil. It lists prompts and coloured overlays as allowed, and says a reader for actual questions and extra time are not permitted under standard CAT4 conditions. Other arrangements may require advice from GL.

The same guidance explains why non-verbal and spatial batteries can be useful for pupils learning English: those batteries do not rely on reading or using English. This does not mean the whole assessment is unaffected by instructions, language experience or a pupil's needs. Ask how any omitted battery or changed arrangement affects interpretation.

CAT4 and school admissions

Some schools use CAT4 in their own in-year admissions process. That is a different use from the routine school learning assessment and has school-specific rules.

Tonbridge Grammar School's current in-year page requires at least 118 in each CAT4 test for eligibility and also describes written English, maths and language papers. It says the school is usually full. Reaching the CAT4 requirement does not create a vacant place or settle suitability.

Weald of Kent's current in-year page describes quantitative, non-verbal and verbal CAT tests and a standard consistent with its current cohort. It does not publish a numerical threshold on that page. Do not substitute Tonbridge's number or a previous policy for Weald's current rule.

These examples are not the normal Year 7 admission rules. Follow the target school's current policy, year-group instructions and available-place process. Our Tonbridge and Weald of Kent guides identify their separate Year 7 routes.

Should a child practise?

GL advises against CAT4 preparation because it can change the reliability of the score. The test itself includes familiarisation examples. Ask the school what it provides, including where CAT4 is used for admissions, and follow its arrangements.

Explain the purpose to your child in the terms the school gives you. Check practical needs, such as glasses or agreed support. Do not promise that everyone finishes, that nobody can find it difficult, or that a particular amount of preparation guarantees a useful report.

If you have a result already, useful questions are: Which scores should we discuss? How uncertain are they? What other evidence agrees or differs? What will happen next? A report is more useful when it leads to a clear conversation than when a parent is left with a label.