CCAT test explained: the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (CCAT 7) by grade, the three batteries and nine tests with what each asks, the timings, the Standard Age Score, percentiles, stanines and ability profile, how Ontario boards use it to screen for gifted programs in Grade 4, what score is gifted, how to prepare honestly, and a printable sheet

"CCAT test" is searched in Canada by parents who got the consent form: a letter from the school in September saying every Grade 4 child will sit the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test, and later a page of numbers with SAS, PR and a code like 7B (Q+). The test is the Canadian edition of the CogAT, which means its publisher's own score guide explains every one of those numbers. This page uses Nelson's brochure, the CogAT Form 7 score interpretation guide the CCAT is built on, and the screening documents of four Ontario boards.

Download the CCAT sheet (PDF) (the levels by grade, the nine tests with timings and what each asks, the SAS-to-percentile table, the ability profile codes and the Ontario screening steps; two pages, free).

What it is

The levels by grade

Nelson's brochure covers Grades 3 to 12 as Levels 9 to 17/18; the level number tracks the age of the grade, so Grade 3 sits at Level 9 and Grade 4 at Level 10, which is the level the Upper Canada board names for its Grade 4 screening. The Primary Edition levels for the youngest children come from the same CogAT Form 7 family.

The nine tests, and what each asks

Grades 3 to 12. Each test is ten minutes; each battery is three tests, usually one 30-minute session.

Nelson's own description of Number Analogies is worth knowing: the same reasoning as Verbal Analogies, with quantities instead of words. The three batteries are built to measure the same thing, reasoning, through three kinds of material, which is why a child can be strong on one and average on another, and why the profile matters more than the composite.

The scores

Standard Age Score (SAS). A normalised scale for each battery and the composite with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16, by age. The publisher's guide: a student with an SAS of 100 on the Verbal battery has a rate and level of verbal reasoning development typical of the age group; 125 is faster and higher. The guide also notes the SAS is the score for eligibility decisions because it discriminates finely at the top and bottom.

Percentile rank (PR). The percentage of students in the same age or grade group whose scores fall at or below the child's; both an age PR and a grade PR are reported, and 50 is average. The guide's caution: percentile units are unequal, so 50 to 55 means nothing and 90 to 95 means a great deal.

Stanine. Nine broad levels, 1 to 9, by age and by grade. The guide's reading of the composite: 120 and above (stanines 8 to 9) well above average; 89 to 111 (4 to 6) average; 80 and below (1 to 2) far below average, with the gaps left for the grey areas.

The ability profile. The code on the report, such as 7B (Q+). The number is the median of the three age stanines, read as a level:

The letter is the pattern across the three batteries: A, all three about the same (about 40 percent of students at Levels 9 and up); B, one battery significantly above or below the other two (about 36 percent); C, a contrast, one strength and one weakness (about 12 percent); E, extreme differences, at least two scores 24 or more SAS points apart (about 9 percent). V, Q or N with a plus or minus names the strength or weakness. So 7B (Q+) is a child above average overall whose quantitative reasoning is significantly stronger than the other two, and the publisher's guide maps each profile to the kind of instruction that suits it.

How Ontario boards use it

The pattern across boards, from their own documents:

1. Universal screening in Grade 4. Upper Canada gives Form 7, Level 10, to every Grade 4 student after a signed consent form; Waterloo Catholic's special-education teacher gives it to all Grade 4 students; York Catholic's stage one is a fall group administration to all Grade 4 students; Halton invites all Grade 4 students; Toronto Catholic assesses all Grade 4 students. Durham screens nominated students from Grade 3 up, and Toronto's public board screens in Grade 3.
2. A line on two batteries. Upper Canada: the 95th percentile (age norms) on at least two of the subtests starts the tracking form. Waterloo Catholic: the 98th percentile in two or more batteries leads to a recommendation. York Catholic: verbal, quantitative and nonverbal criteria to move to stage two.
3. An individual assessment. Stage two is an individual screening of intellectual ability by the board's psychology staff (a Wechsler scale, the WISC-V), with teacher rating scales; Upper Canada's points system also credits a full-scale or General Ability Index percentile at or above the 94th.
4. The IPRC. Identification, placement and review by committee in spring, with the parents invited, and a gifted placement (a congregated class, a withdrawal program or support in the regular class) decided there.

A private Wechsler report meeting the board's criteria can replace the CCAT step in several boards (Upper Canada says the CCAT is then not necessary; York Catholic accepts documentation at the 98th percentile for new students). The board's own page is the source for its numbers; the ones above are what they published.

What score is gifted?

The board's line, between the 95th and 98th percentile on two batteries at the screening stage, and then the individual test's own criterion (commonly the 98th percentile overall). A child at the 90th percentile on all three batteries is a strong student who will not be screened in; a child at the 99th on quantitative and nonverbal and the 70th on verbal may be, and is exactly the child the three-battery design is meant to find. The gifted and talented page has the questions to ask any district, and they apply to a board.

How to prepare, honestly

Teach the formats so that nothing on the day is a surprise: that an analogy has a rule, that a classification has one answer, that a number series continues a pattern, that paper folding can be done with a real sheet of paper at the kitchen table, and that each test stops after ten minutes, so skipping and returning is a skill. A few short sessions are enough. What does not help is weeks of look-alike worksheets: the score can move, the reasoning does not, and the gifted class the score opens is built for the reasoning. The three sibling tests are the CogAT itself, used across the United States, the NNAT, nonverbal only, and the OLSAT.

Download the CCAT sheet (PDF) (the levels, the tests, the scores, the profile and the screening steps; two pages, free).

Where to get help

A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's degree and teaches the Ontario and other provincial curricula from Grade 1 number work to Grade 12 functions, chemistry and physics, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, Eastern or Pacific time, for about C$14 to $18 an hour: the CCAT or psychologist's report read together in the free 30-minute first class, the battery or the skill the profile points at found, and the term spent on the reasoning itself, not on test drills. How online tutoring from India to Canada works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.

Sources: Nelson Education, CCAT 7 brochure (2016): Form 7 by David F. Lohman, the three batteries, Grades 3 to 12 as Levels 9 to 17/18, the nine tests at ten minutes each in three sessions, the test descriptions, updated Canadian norms, picture prompts for English language learners, paper and online administration; Riverside Insights, CogAT Form 7 Score Interpretation Guide: the SAS scale (mean 100, SD 16), percentile ranks and stanines by age and grade, the composite SAS ranges for ability estimates, the ability profile (median age stanine levels; A, B, C and E patterns with their shares; the plus and minus codes), timed subtests at Levels 9 to 17/18; Upper Canada District School Board, Gifted Screening and Identification Process (Grade 4, Form 7 Level 10, consent, 95th percentile on two subtests, the points system and the Wechsler GAI rule); Waterloo Catholic District School Board, Gifted Education (Grade 4 mass screening, 98th percentile in two or more batteries); York Catholic District School Board, Gifted Screening Process for Entry into the PACE Program (three stages, 98th percentile for documentation); Durham District School Board, Gifted Program letter (nomination from Grade 3). The percentile column is the normal-curve reading of the SAS scale. Fetched 11 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

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