CAT4 Scores Explained: SAS, Percentiles, Stanines and What the Results Mean
A CAT4 result is not a percentage mark or a pass-or-fail grade. The most important figure is the Standard Age Score, or SAS, which compares a child’s reasoning performance with that of other children of the same age. An SAS of 100 is the age-adjusted average; scores above or below 100 indicate relative strengths or areas that may need support.
CAT4 assesses four different areas—verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial reasoning. Parents should examine the pattern across all four batteries rather than treating the overall mean as a verdict on intelligence or future achievement.
This guide explains how to read a CAT4 report, what counts as an average or high score, how schools use the results and what families in the UK, Hong Kong, mainland China, the UAE and the USA should do next.
What is the CAT4 test?
CAT4 stands for Cognitive Abilities Test, Fourth Edition. It is produced by GL Assessment and is used by many British and international schools with students aged 6 to 17 and above.
Unlike an ordinary school examination, CAT4 is not principally designed to test how much curriculum content a child has memorised. It assesses forms of reasoning associated with learning and academic achievement.
Schools may use CAT4 to:
Establish an academic baseline
Identify hidden strengths
Recognise possible support needs
Inform teaching and subject targets
Compare ability with classroom attainment
Provide indicators for later GCSE, A-level or IB outcomes
Support transition between year groups or schools
Some schools may consider CAT4 during admissions, but its use varies. Parents should never assume that a particular score automatically guarantees or prevents entry.
What are the four CAT4 batteries?
A CAT4 report provides separate results for four reasoning batteries.
Verbal reasoning
Verbal reasoning measures how effectively a student identifies relationships between words and uses language to solve problems.
It can be influenced by vocabulary, reading experience and familiarity with the language of the test. This is particularly relevant to multilingual students and pupils learning English as an additional language.
A comparatively low verbal score does not automatically mean that a child has weak overall reasoning ability. It may indicate that language is making it harder for the child to demonstrate what they understand.
Quantitative reasoning
Quantitative reasoning assesses the ability to recognise relationships between numbers and use numerical information logically.
It is related to mathematics, but it is not simply a test of the school mathematics syllabus. A child can be accurate in routine calculations yet find unfamiliar numerical patterns more challenging—or show strong numerical reasoning despite gaps in taught content.
Non-verbal reasoning
Non-verbal reasoning involves solving problems presented through shapes, diagrams and visual patterns.
Students may need to recognise changes involving size, position, number, direction, shading or classification. Because it relies less heavily on written language, it can reveal strengths that are less visible in an English-based classroom.
Spatial reasoning
Spatial reasoning assesses the ability to visualise, manipulate and draw conclusions from shapes in two or three dimensions.
These skills can be relevant to mathematics, science, engineering, design, architecture and other subjects involving visualisation.
Non-verbal and spatial reasoning are related, but they are not identical. A child may perform differently in the two batteries, so parents should not merge them into one general “visual” score.
What is the CAT4 Standard Age Score?
The Standard Age Score is the principal score used in a CAT4 report. The child’s raw result is adjusted for age and compared with a representative sample of UK students of the same age. The average SAS is 100.
Age standardisation matters because several months of development can make a meaningful difference during childhood. It produces a fairer comparison than placing every student in a year group against exactly the same unadjusted benchmark.
GL Assessment uses the following broad classifications:
Standard Age Score | Stanine | Broad interpretation |
127 and above | 9 | Very high |
119–126 | 8 | Above average |
112–118 | 7 | Above average |
104–111 | 6 | Average |
97–103 | 5 | Average |
89–96 | 4 | Average |
82–88 | 3 | Below average |
74–81 | 2 | Below average |
73 and below | 1 | Very low |
These bands must be interpreted carefully. A score of 111 and a score of 112 fall into different stanines, but that does not mean there is a dramatic difference between the two children.
GL Assessment also notes that differences of fewer than three SAS points are not normally considered statistically significant. Parents should therefore focus on meaningful patterns, not tiny numerical gaps.
What does a CAT4 percentile mean?
The National Percentile Rank shows the proportion of same-age students who achieved the same score or a lower score.
For example:
The 50th percentile represents the middle of the comparison group.
The 84th percentile means the student scored as well as or better than 84% of same-age students.
The 95th percentile places the score within the highest 5% of the comparison group.
A percentile is not the percentage of questions answered correctly. A child at the 84th percentile did not necessarily answer 84% of the questions correctly.
This distinction is one of the most common sources of confusion when parents read standardised assessment reports.
What is a CAT4 stanine?
A stanine—short for “standard nine”—places a score into one of nine broad bands.
Stanine 1 represents the lowest band, stanine 5 is the central band and stanine 9 is the highest. Stanines make it easier to see the broad level of a result, although they provide less detail than the SAS and percentile.
A stanine should not be read as a school grade. Stanine 5 does not mean that a child received five marks out of nine. It indicates that the result falls within the middle part of the age-standardised distribution.
What is a good CAT4 score?
There is no universal CAT4 pass mark. An SAS of 100 is exactly average for age. Scores from 89 to 111 fall across the three average stanines, while 112 and above is classified as above average. A score of 127 or above is in stanine 9, the highest band.
However, “good” depends on why the test was administered. For school benchmarking, an average result may show that a child is reasoning at the expected level. In a highly selective admissions process, the school may compare a candidate with an unusually strong applicant group. In another context, a lower score might help teachers identify a specific form of support.
The overall mean also does not tell the whole story. A student with scores of 125 in quantitative reasoning and 90 in verbal reasoning has a very different learning profile from a student who scores approximately 108 in every battery, even if their overall means are similar.
How should parents interpret differences between batteries?
The most useful information often comes from the shape of the profile rather than its overall average.
Consider a student with these illustrative results:
Battery | SAS |
Verbal | 94 |
Quantitative | 119 |
Non-verbal | 116 |
Spatial | 122 |
The student shows clear strengths in numerical and visual reasoning but a comparatively weaker verbal result. This does not establish the cause, but it gives parents and teachers useful questions to investigate:
Is English an additional language?
Does the child read widely and understand age-appropriate vocabulary?
Can the child explain complex ideas verbally?
Does reading speed limit performance?
Is the same pattern visible in classroom work?
The correct response is not simply to ask the child to repeat CAT4-style questions. It may be more valuable to improve vocabulary, reading comprehension and confidence in expressing reasoning.
A reversed profile—strong verbal reasoning but lower quantitative or spatial scores—would require a different response, perhaps involving numerical fluency, visualisation or step-by-step problem solving.
Students whose profile shows a relative weakness in visual reasoning may also benefit from this guide to improving non-verbal reasoning.
CAT4 results for international students
CAT4 scores used outside the UK are based on UK standardisation. This provides a consistent reference point, but international families should interpret verbal performance in the context of the child’s language and educational background.
GL Assessment’s international benchmarking research found that international-school students tended, on average, to perform more strongly in quantitative, non-verbal and spatial batteries but less strongly in verbal reasoning. The organisation identifies English-as-an-additional-language demands as an important consideration.
Hong Kong and mainland China
Students in bilingual, local and international schools may show very strong mathematical or visual reasoning while finding English vocabulary more demanding.
Parents should distinguish between reasoning ability and access to the language used to present a problem. Improving regular English reading, academic vocabulary and verbal explanation may be more useful than repeatedly drilling abstract test items.
UAE
CAT4 is familiar to many British-curriculum schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Parents may receive the results as part of school benchmarking, target-setting or learning-support discussions.
Ask the school which comparison and report it is using, how CAT4 relates to classroom attainment and whether any apparent weakness is also visible in ordinary schoolwork.
USA
American families may be more familiar with assessments such as CogAT. Although there are broad similarities in measuring different forms of reasoning, CAT4 has its own batteries, norms and reporting system.
Avoid converting a CAT4 result directly into another test’s score. Interpret each assessment according to its own standardisation and purpose.
Can students prepare for CAT4?
GL Assessment advises schools and families against practice for CAT4 and does not endorse CAT4 practice materials. Each section of the assessment includes untimed examples that introduce the question format.
This is important because excessive coaching can reduce the value of the test as an independent picture of the child’s reasoning profile. However, sensible preparation for a school assessment is not the same as drilling copied or imitated CAT4 questions. Parents can still ensure that a child:
Knows why the assessment is taking place
Has slept and eaten properly
Can use the relevant computer or tablet confidently
Reads instructions carefully
Is not excessively anxious about the result
Has appropriate access arrangements where necessary
Over the longer term, students can strengthen the underlying skills associated with learning through reading, mathematical problem solving, puzzles, construction, visualisation and explaining their reasoning. These are educational activities, not shortcuts for manipulating one test result.
What should parents do after receiving the report?
1. Read the four scores separately
Do not begin and end with the overall mean. Look for genuine differences between the batteries.
2. Compare ability with attainment
A high reasoning score combined with unexpectedly weak school performance may suggest underachievement, missing knowledge, language difficulty, low confidence or another barrier requiring investigation.
A lower reasoning score does not impose a fixed ceiling. It may help teachers select clearer explanations, more scaffolding and suitable learning strategies.
3. Ask the school for context
Useful questions include:
Why was CAT4 administered?
How is the school using the results?
Does the report match the child’s classroom profile?
Are any differences between batteries educationally significant?
Is additional assessment needed?
What support or challenge will follow?
4. Avoid labelling the child
CAT4 provides evidence about performance on four reasoning batteries at a particular time. It is not a complete measure of intelligence, effort, creativity, character or future potential.
Descriptions such as “not verbal” or “not mathematical” can become unnecessarily limiting.
5. Create a targeted learning plan
If the report identifies a meaningful weakness, address the underlying educational need.
That might mean systematic vocabulary development, deeper reading comprehension, secure number relationships, spatial activities or practice explaining solutions. The intervention should be broader than repeating assessment questions.
When can tutoring help?
Tutoring may be useful when parents need help connecting a CAT4 profile with the child’s school performance. For example, a tutor can investigate whether lower verbal reasoning reflects vocabulary, comprehension or difficulty expressing relationships. A quantitative weakness can be explored through number sense and unfamiliar problem solving rather than routine calculation alone.
Effective support should:
Begin with evidence from the report and schoolwork
Identify the underlying skill rather than chase one score
Respect the assessment provider’s guidance against test drilling
Adapt to multilingual and international-school backgrounds
Build transferable academic skills
Review progress through ordinary learning, not constant CAT4 simulation
Families seeking individual support can learn more about DW Tutoring’s entrance-exam preparation or contact DW Tutoring to discuss their child’s learning profile.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average CAT4 score?
The average Standard Age Score is 100. It has already been adjusted for the child’s age.
Is 120 a good CAT4 score?
An SAS of 120 falls within stanine 8 and is classified as above average. It should still be interpreted as part of the child’s complete four-battery profile.
What CAT4 score is considered gifted?
CAT4 does not itself provide a universal diagnosis of giftedness. A score of 127 or above falls in stanine 9, the highest broad band, but schools use their own criteria when identifying highly able pupils.
Is CAT4 an IQ test?
No. CAT4 measures verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial reasoning for educational purposes. Its SAS should not be treated as an IQ diagnosis.
Can a child fail CAT4?
CAT4 does not have a general pass-or-fail mark. Schools use its results for purposes including benchmarking, planning support, target-setting and, in some cases, admissions.
What does the CAT4 percentile show?
It shows the proportion of same-age students in the comparison sample who achieved the same result or a lower result. It is not the percentage of questions answered correctly.
Can students practise for CAT4?
GL Assessment advises against CAT4 practice and does not endorse practice materials. Students should instead be rested, understand the instructions and develop broad reasoning and academic skills through normal learning.
Why is my child’s verbal score lower than the other CAT4 scores?
Possible explanations include vocabulary, reading experience or learning through English as an additional language. The result should be compared with classroom evidence before drawing a conclusion.
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