CAT4, namely Cognitive Abilities Test Fourth Edition, is an online examination system developed by GL Assessment

 in the UK for students aged 6 to 17. It holds an important position in the field of international education, 

especially in the admission assessment and student ability monitoring of private schools in the UK. Nowadays, it has been widely applied in more than 100 countries around the world.

I. Examination Objectives

CAT4 aims to assess students' development capabilities and future academic potential, helping schools judge students' development 

at the same age and then decide whether to admit them. From the perspective of the school, it can identify talented students, 

assist teachers in understanding students' strengths and weaknesses, and adjust the teaching pace to achieve individualized instruction. 

For students and parents, this can help them clarify their own strengths and weaknesses and plan their subsequent learning directions.

Ii. Examination Content

The content of this examination does not focus on academic knowledge but emphasizes the assessment of four basic abilities of students:

Word reasoning

Verbal classification: Several words with certain commonalities, such as "dog", "cat", and "rabbit", are given. Students

 need to select the words that also belong to the animal category from the options to test their understanding and classification ability of vocabulary.

Verbal analogies: For example, when presenting that "big" and "small" are in an opposite relationship, students are required to 

find words from the options that have a similar opposite relationship with "tall" to test their language logical reasoning ability.

Digital reasoning

Number analogies: Given pairs of numbers such as "3:9" and "4:16", students are asked to select the number that forms the corresponding 

relationship with "5" from the options based on their logical relationship, to examine the ability to explore and apply number patterns.

Number series: Given the sequence "1,3,5,7, ()", students need to find out the arrangement pattern of the numbers, fill in the next number, and exercise their mathematical logical thinking.

Logical reasoning

Figure Classification: Three figures with similar features are presented. For example, all three are right-angled triangles. Students need to find the fourth figure that conforms to this feature from the given options to train the ability of figure observation and induction.

Figure Matrices: Present some figures in the matrix, with one blank. Students need to select the correct figure to fill

 the blank based on the existing figure rules, such as the variation rules of shape, color, quantity, etc., to enhance logical reasoning and pattern recognition abilities.

Spatial reasoning

Figure Analysis: Show a figure that has undergone operations such as folding and punching. For example, a square piece of 

paper is folded and punched. Let students imagine the appearance of the unfolded figure to test their spatial imagination and understanding of figure transformation.

Figure Recognition: Multiple complex figures are presented, and students are required to accurately identify

 specific target figures from them to exercise their ability to distinguish spatial figures.

Iii. Examination Format and Time

The examination format is mainly computer-based, and there are also paper-based tests (though paper-based tests are only 

applicable in the UK). The total duration of the computer-based test is 2 hours and 15 minutes, and each module has a 

specified answering time. Students need to make a choice within the time limit. Failure to answer is regarded as an error,

 but each question is allowed to be reviewed. This requires students to plan their time reasonably.

Iv. Examination Difficulty Levels

CAT4 has seven difficulty levels, represented by A to G, corresponding to different age groups and student grades. Usually, 

when applying to top secondary schools in the UK, Level C/D is often chosen. Apply for GCSE courses and choose Level E/F; Apply for A-Level 

courses and choose Level G. For lower age groups, there are also X and Pre-A level tests. For example, the Level X test covers parts such as

 graphics (12 minutes), text (10 minutes), numbers (10 minutes), shapes (11 minutes), etc. The Level Pre-A test includes contents 

such as graphic classification (10 minutes), word classification (10 minutes), sequence (8 minutes), graphic recognition (9 minutes), etc. 

Each part has 5 minutes of guidance and practice time. The total test duration is approximately 1 hour (excluding preparation time). 

The A-G level test is divided into three parts. Each part also includes 5 minutes of guidance and practice time. The total test duration is 112 minutes (excluding preparation time).

V. Examination Scoring

The full score of the CAT4 exam is 145 points, and the average score of most students ranges from 89 to 111 points. 

It is generally believed that a score lower than 74 indicates extremely low cognitive ability of the student. A score above 

127 indicates that the student has a relatively high cognitive ability and is in a leading position among the overall English 

cognitive ability students in the same grade group. After the exam, the system tallies the original scores and makes a horizontal comparison with students of the same age to obtain four scores:

SAS (Standard Age Score) : That is, the standard age score, which is the comparison result of the original

 score with the scores of other students of the same age. The higher the score, the better.

NPR (National Percentile Rank) : National percentile ranking. For example, if NPR is 80 points, it indicates that the student's

 score in this subject exceeds 80% of the candidates of the same age. Similarly, the higher the score, the better.

ST (Stanine) : A standard score of 9, which ranks students' scores proportionally within the range of 1 to 9. The higher the score, the better the performance.

GR (Group Rank) : The group ranking of students. The higher the ranking, the better. British private schools place more emphasis on the results of SAS and NPR.

Vi. Significance of the Examination

For schools, the CAT4 examination can help them fully understand the cognitive ability characteristics of students, thereby optimizing 

teaching arrangements and providing more suitable educational resources for different students. For students, the exam results 

can enable them to clearly recognize their thinking strengths and areas that need improvement, allowing them to carry 

out more targeted self-improvement in subsequent studies. In the context of further education, schools will comprehensively 

consider students' CAT4 scores as well as their English writing and interview performances, etc., to screen out students

 who have the potential to achieve good development in the school. Even if some schools do not mandating the CAT4 exam, 

students can still voluntarily submit their CAT4 score reports as application materials to showcase their cognitive ability levels to the school.