CAT4 Practice Test: Free Questions for Familiarisation
If your child has never seen CAT4-style reasoning tasks before, the formats can feel unusual. These free exercises introduce verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial reasoning without pretending to reproduce the real assessment.
These are original practice questions, not official CAT4 test items. They are designed to help students become comfortable with the kinds of thinking involved. CAT4 is published by GL Assessment, and official test administration includes practice examples so students can understand each task before the scored questions begin.
What should CAT4 practice actually do?
CAT4 is different from a school exam. There is no chapter of mathematics, science or English to revise. The assessment looks at reasoning through words, numbers and visual information.
For that reason, familiarisation is more useful when it helps a student recognise what a task is asking and think through it calmly. Repeating hundreds of questions simply to memorise patterns misses the point.
If CAT4 itself is new to you, start with our guide to the CAT4 test. It explains the four batteries, timing, scores and how international schools may use the assessment.
A note for parents
GL Assessment does not endorse third-party CAT4 practice materials. The exercises below are independent reasoning activities for familiarisation. They are not copied from the assessment and cannot predict a CAT4 score, SAS, percentile or admissions outcome.
Verbal reasoning practice
Look for relationships between words. Do not choose an answer simply because the words belong to the same broad topic; work out the relationship first.
Which word belongs with the other three?
Bird is to nest as bee is to:
Which word is the odd one out?
Finger is to hand as toe is to:
Which three words belong most closely together?
Transparent is to opaque as visible is to:
Quantitative reasoning practice
These questions are about relationships between numbers rather than advanced school mathematics. Look for the rule before choosing the answer.
What number comes next?
What number comes next?
2 becomes 8. Using the same relationship, 5 becomes:
What number comes next?
What number comes next?
If 6 → 18 and 9 → 27, then 14 → ?
Non-verbal reasoning practice
Here the information is visual rather than verbal. Look for changes in shape, quantity, direction or arrangement.
Which symbol comes next in the pattern?
Which symbol comes next?
Which symbol is different from the others?
The first pair changes from an empty square to a filled square. Apply the same change to the circle.
Which comes next?
Which symbol completes the alternating pattern?
Spatial reasoning practice
Spatial reasoning involves mentally moving, rotating or transforming visual information. These simplified exercises introduce that way of thinking without reproducing CAT4 items.
An arrow pointing up is rotated 90° clockwise. Which way does it point?
An arrow pointing left is rotated 180°. Which way does it point?
A square is turned 90° clockwise. What happens to its overall outline?
You face north, turn right, then turn right again. Which direction are you facing?
A shape is reflected in a vertical mirror. A mark that was on the left side will appear on which side?
You face east and make a quarter-turn anticlockwise. Which direction are you now facing?
Answers and explanations
Do not use the total as a CAT4 score. These questions are independent exercises and have not been standardised against CAT4 norms. The explanations are more useful than the raw number correct.
1. D — orchestra
Violin, trumpet and piano are musical instruments. An orchestra is a group of musicians rather than an instrument.
2. B — hive
The relationship is animal to home: a bird may live in a nest, while bees live in a hive.
3. D — listen
Whisper, shout and speak are ways of producing speech. Listening involves receiving sound rather than producing it.
4. B — foot
A finger is part of a hand. In the same relationship, a toe is part of a foot.
5. A, C and D — oak, pine and maple
All three are trees. Rose and grass are plants, but they do not belong to the same narrower category.
6. B — hidden
Transparent and opaque express an opposition. Visible and hidden form the closest corresponding opposition.
7. B — 20
The sequence increases by 4 each time: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20.
8. D — 48
Each number is doubled: 3 × 2 = 6, then 12, 24 and 48.
9. C — 20
The first number is multiplied by 4. Applying the same rule gives 5 × 4 = 20.
10. C — 18
The sequence decreases by 3 each time: 30, 27, 24, 21, 18.
11. C — 20
The increases grow by one each time: +3, +4, +5, so the next increase is +6. Fourteen plus six is 20.
12. C — 42
The relationship is multiplication by 3: 6 becomes 18 and 9 becomes 27. Therefore 14 becomes 42.
13. A — ○
The pattern alternates between an empty circle and a filled circle.
14. A — ↑
The arrow rotates 90 degrees clockwise each time: up, right, down, left, then up again.
15. D — ○
The first three symbols are triangles pointing in different directions. The circle belongs to a different shape category.
16. A — ●
The transformation changes an outline shape into the filled version of the same shape. An empty circle therefore becomes a filled circle.
17. C — ■■■■
One square is added at every step: one, two, three, then four.
18. B — △
The two shapes alternate: diamond, triangle, diamond, triangle, diamond, triangle.
19. B — →
A 90-degree clockwise turn moves an upward-pointing arrow to the right.
20. C — →
A 180-degree rotation reverses the direction. Left therefore becomes right.
21. B — it remains a square
Rotating a square changes its orientation but not its basic outline.
22. B — South
From north, the first right turn faces east. The second right turn faces south.
23. B — Right
A vertical mirror reflection reverses left and right.
24. A — North
A quarter-turn anticlockwise from east points north.
What should you do with the results?
Start by looking at how your child approached the questions. A mistake caused by misunderstanding the task is different from a mistake made after correctly identifying the rule.
If several questions were difficult, resist the temptation to turn the result into an ability score. Twenty-four independent questions cannot reproduce a standardised cognitive assessment.
Notice unfamiliar formats
Did your child understand analogies immediately but hesitate when a visual pattern appeared? That tells you which task formats are unfamiliar.
Ask for the rule
Instead of only asking for an answer, ask your child to explain the relationship or pattern they noticed. The reasoning process matters.
Do not invent a CAT4 score
A percentage from online practice cannot legitimately be converted into a CAT4 SAS, percentile or stanine without the appropriate standardisation.
Keep the experience proportionate
Familiarisation should reduce uncertainty around unfamiliar tasks, not make a child feel that CAT4 is an examination they must endlessly revise for.
CAT4 practice test questions
Is this an official CAT4 practice test?
No. The exercises on this page were independently created for reasoning familiarisation. They are not official GL Assessment questions and are not copied from a live CAT4 assessment.
Is there a free CAT4 practice test?
Many third-party websites offer CAT4-related practice. GL Assessment states that practice examples are already included during official CAT4 administration to help students understand each task. The exercises here are independent familiarisation activities rather than an official CAT4 mock test.
Can these questions predict my child’s CAT4 score?
No. They cannot be converted into a valid CAT4 Standard Age Score, percentile or stanine. CAT4 scoring is based on a standardised assessment and age-related norms.
Should my child practise under time pressure?
For initial familiarisation, understanding the task is more important than racing through it. CAT4 scored sections are timed, but official administration provides examples before the scored questions begin.
What are the four areas tested in CAT4?
CAT4 reports across four reasoning batteries: verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial. Our main CAT4 guide explains what each battery measures and how the assessment is structured.
What if English is not my child’s first language?
Language demands differ across the four batteries. Verbal reasoning relies on words, while non-verbal and spatial reasoning rely much less on English. This is one reason an international student’s pattern across the batteries deserves careful interpretation.
Is your child taking CAT4 soon?
If the question formats are unfamiliar or you are unsure how to prepare without turning CAT4 into another school subject, we can assess where your child is having difficulty and discuss whether individual support makes sense.
Ask About CAT4 PreparationCAT4 is developed and published by GL Assessment. This independent resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by GL Assessment. The practice questions above were created independently for familiarisation with general reasoning activities and are not official, copied or reconstructed CAT4 test items. Individual preparation offered by Rodrigo Faria does not claim access to confidential CAT4 materials or guarantee any particular CAT4 result.