Quick Answer: CAT4 has four batteries: Verbal, Quantitative, Non-verbal and Spatial reasoning. Each uses two types of question, such as verbal analogies, number series or folded-paper puzzles. Below are 12 original example questions, three per battery, with answers and explanations. GL Assessment, which publishes CAT4, says children don't need to prepare. These examples are for familiarisation only, so the question types aren't a surprise on the day.
This guide is for parents in Dubai whose child is about to sit CAT4, whether for school admission or as a routine assessment, and for children who want to see what the questions look like. If you already have a CAT4 report and want to understand the numbers, read our guide to CAT4 scores explained.
Should Your Child Prepare for CAT4?
GL Assessment's own advice is that CAT4 doesn't need preparation. It measures how a child reasons, not what they have learnt in class, and the results are most useful to teachers when they reflect the child's natural ability. Heavy drilling can push a score up for a short time, which gives the school a less accurate picture of how to support your child.
What does help is familiarisation. A child who has never seen a figure matrix or a folded-paper question may lose time working out what the question is asking. Seeing a few examples beforehand, and knowing that the test is timed and multiple-choice, helps children stay calm and show what they can really do. That's the purpose of the questions below.
All 12 questions were written for this post. They follow the question types GL Assessment describes publicly, but they're not taken from the real test. The real non-verbal and spatial questions use pictures. Here we describe each picture in words, so you may want to sketch them with your child.
Verbal Reasoning (Thinking With Words)
The Verbal battery uses verbal classification (find the word that belongs with a group) and verbal analogies (find the word that completes a pair).
1. Verbal classification
Which word goes with these three: oak, birch, elm?
A. daisy B. willow C. ivy D. grass E. tulip
Answer: B. willow. Oak, birch and elm are all trees, and so is a willow. A daisy and a tulip are flowers, ivy is a climbing plant, and grass is not a tree.
2. Verbal classification
Which word goes with these three: trumpet, flute, oboe?
A. violin B. drum C. clarinet D. harp E. piano
Answer: C. clarinet. Trumpet, flute and oboe are all wind instruments: you play them by blowing. A violin and a harp are string instruments, a drum is percussion, and a piano has keys and strings.
3. Verbal analogy
bird → nest is like bee → ?
A. honey B. hive C. flower D. wing E. sting
Answer: B. hive. A nest is the home a bird lives in, and a hive is the home a bee lives in. Bees make honey and visit flowers, but neither is where a bee lives.
Tip: In analogies, say the link out loud as a sentence ("a bird lives in a nest") and then test each option in the same sentence.
Quantitative Reasoning (Thinking With Numbers)
The Quantitative battery uses number analogies (work out the rule that turns one number into another) and number series (find the next number in a sequence).
4. Number analogy
[3 → 10] [7 → 22] [5 → ?]
A. 12 B. 15 C. 16 D. 17 E. 25
Answer: C. 16. The rule is "multiply by 3, then add 1": 3 × 3 + 1 = 10 and 7 × 3 + 1 = 22, so 5 × 3 + 1 = 16. Always check that a rule works for both pairs. "Add 7" works for the first pair but not the second.
5. Number series
2, 5, 11, 23, 47, ?
A. 71 B. 94 C. 95 D. 96 E. 141
Answer: C. 95. Each number is double the one before, plus 1: 47 × 2 + 1 = 95. You can also spot it from the gaps between the numbers: 3, 6, 12, 24. They double each time, so the next gap is 48, and 47 + 48 = 95.
6. Number series
3, 4, 7, 11, 18, 29, ?
A. 40 B. 43 C. 47 D. 48 E. 58
Answer: C. 47. Each number is the sum of the two before it: 3 + 4 = 7, 4 + 7 = 11, 7 + 11 = 18, 11 + 18 = 29, so 18 + 29 = 47.
Tip: If the gaps between numbers don't form a simple pattern, try adding neighbouring numbers, or look at the gaps between the gaps.
Non-verbal Reasoning (Thinking With Shapes)
The Non-verbal battery uses figure classification (find the shape that belongs with a group) and figure matrices (complete a grid of shapes).
7. Figure classification
You see three shapes:
- a white triangle with 3 black dots inside it
- a grey square with 4 black dots inside it
- a striped pentagon with 5 black dots inside it
Which shape goes with them?
A. a hexagon with 4 dots B. a square with 3 dots C. a hexagon with 6 dots D. a triangle with 2 dots E. a circle with 2 dots
Answer: C. a hexagon with 6 dots. In each shape, the number of dots matches the number of sides. The shading changes each time, so it's a distraction. A hexagon has 6 sides and 6 dots. None of the other options match.
8. Figure matrix (2 × 2)
A 2 × 2 grid has one empty square:
- Top left: a large circle with a small black square inside it
- Top right: a large square with a small black circle inside it
- Bottom left: a large triangle with a small black circle inside it
- Bottom right: ?
A. a large triangle with a small black circle inside
B. a large circle with a small black triangle inside
C. a large circle with a small white triangle inside
D. a large square with a small black triangle inside
E. a small circle next to a large triangle
Answer: B. Moving from left to right along a row, the outer shape and the inner shape swap places, and the inner shape stays black. In the bottom row, the triangle on the outside with a circle inside becomes a circle on the outside with a black triangle inside. Option C has the right shapes but the wrong colour.
9. Figure matrix with rotation
A 2 × 2 grid has one empty square:
- Top left: an arrow pointing up, with one dot beside it
- Top right: an arrow pointing right, with one dot beside it
- Bottom left: an arrow pointing left, with two dots beside it
- Bottom right: ?
A. an arrow pointing up, two dots B. an arrow pointing down, two dots C. an arrow pointing right, two dots D. an arrow pointing up, one dot E. an arrow pointing left, two dots
Answer: A. Along each row, the arrow turns 90° clockwise (up becomes right; left becomes up). The number of dots stays the same within a row, so the bottom row keeps two dots. Reading down the columns gives the same answer: the arrow turns 90° anticlockwise from top to bottom, so right becomes up, and the dots change from one to two.
Tip: In matrices, check the rows and then the columns. The right answer usually fits both.
Spatial Ability (Picturing Shapes in Your Head)
The Spatial battery uses figure analysis (folding and hole-punching paper) and figure recognition (finding a shape hidden in a design).
10. Figure analysis: one fold
A square sheet of paper is folded in half from left to right, so the left half lies on top of the right half. One hole is punched through both layers, near the top of the folded paper. The paper is then unfolded.
What does the unfolded paper look like?
A. one hole, top right B. two holes, top left and top right C. two holes, top right and bottom right D. four holes, one near each corner E. two holes, top left and bottom right
Answer: B. The punch goes through two layers, so there are two holes. Unfolding reflects the hole across the fold line (the vertical line down the middle), so the holes are mirror images of each other, both near the top.
11. Figure analysis: two folds
A square sheet of paper is folded in half from top to bottom. It is then folded in half again from left to right, making a small square a quarter of the original size. One hole is punched near the outer corner of the folded paper: the corner that was the bottom right of the original sheet. The paper is unfolded.
What does the unfolded paper look like?
A. one hole, bottom right B. two holes, bottom left and bottom right C. four holes in a square around the centre D. four holes, one near each corner of the sheet E. two holes, top right and bottom right
Answer: D. Two folds make four layers, so there are four holes. Unfold one step at a time. Undoing the left-to-right fold reflects the hole across the vertical centre line, giving holes near the bottom left and bottom right. Undoing the top-to-bottom fold reflects both across the horizontal centre line, adding holes near the top left and top right. Option C would only be right if the hole had been punched next to the fold corner, in the middle of the sheet.
12. Figure recognition
A large square has both of its diagonals drawn, so it's divided into four triangles that meet in the middle. Using only the lines in this design, which of these shapes can you find?
A. a regular pentagon B. a right-angled triangle with two equal sides C. a rhombus with no right angles D. a regular hexagon E. a circle
Answer: B. Each of the four small triangles has a right angle at the centre, because the diagonals of a square cross at 90°, and two equal sides, because the diagonals are equal and cut each other in half. The design has no curves, five-sided or six-sided shapes, or slanted rhombuses. The only four-sided shape in it is the square itself, and a square has right angles.
Familiarisation Tips for the Day
- Explain the format, not the answers. Tell your child that the test is on a computer or paper, is multiple-choice, and is split into short timed sections.
- Try one or two of each type. A handful of examples is enough to remove the surprise. Hours of practice papers aren't needed and may make your child anxious.
- Encourage a sensible guess. If a question is taking too long, it's usually better to choose the best option and move on.
- Look at every option. Many wrong answers are close to the right one (see Questions 8 and 11), so check each choice against the rule.
- Sleep and breakfast matter. A rested child reasons better than one who stayed up doing practice questions.
How Improve ME Institute Helps
Our CAT4 course introduces each of the four batteries and their question types in small groups, so children know what to expect and can work calmly under timed conditions. The aim is confidence with the format, not drilling for a score. Every student starts with a free Diagnostic Test, which helps us understand how your child approaches reasoning before any sessions begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does my child need to prepare for CAT4?
A: GL Assessment says no: CAT4 measures reasoning ability, and the most useful results come from children taking it as they are. Seeing a few example questions beforehand is sensible so the format isn't a surprise, but intensive preparation isn't recommended.
Q: What are the four parts of CAT4?
A: Verbal Reasoning (words), Quantitative Reasoning (numbers), Non-verbal Reasoning (shapes and patterns) and Spatial Ability (picturing and moving shapes in the mind). Each battery has two question types, and each gives a separate score.
Q: Are these the real CAT4 questions?
A: No. They're original examples written to match the question types GL Assessment describes publicly. The real test uses its own questions, and the non-verbal and spatial ones use pictures rather than written descriptions.
Q: How are CAT4 results reported?
A: Results are usually given as a Standard Age Score (where 100 is average for the child's age), a stanine and a percentile rank for each battery. Our guide to CAT4 scores explained walks through every part of the report.
Q: Can my child fail CAT4?
A: There is no pass or fail mark. CAT4 shows a child's strengths and how they prefer to think, which helps schools plan teaching and support. Some schools use it as part of admissions alongside other information.
Ready for the Day
Go through two or three of these questions with your child, talk about how they worked them out, and then let it rest. If you'd like your child to become familiar with the format in a calm, structured way, see our CAT4 course or book a free Diagnostic Test at Improve ME Institute in Gold & Diamond Park, Al Quoz.
