IQ test for kids: what the WISC-V and WPPSI-IV measure, the ages they cover, what a psychologist's report shows (the five indexes, the Full Scale IQ, the score bands from Extremely Low to Extremely High), why online IQ tests are not IQ tests, what schools use instead, and a printable sheet

"IQ test for kids" is searched by two kinds of parents: those who have been told their child will be tested, and those wondering whether to test. For both the useful facts are the same. The tests that produce a real IQ score are the Wechsler scales, given one-to-one by a psychologist; schools do not give them as a matter of course; and the free tests online are not IQ tests in any sense a school or a psychologist recognises. Everything below about the tests comes from Pearson, which publishes them.

Download the child IQ test sheet (PDF) (the WISC-V and WPPSI-IV at a glance, the five indexes with what each measures, the score bands with percentiles and the questions to ask before testing; two pages, free).

The two tests children take

For a child aged 6:0 to 7:7 the two overlap and the examiner chooses between them from what is known about the child.

What the WISC-V measures

The Full Scale IQ comes from seven subtests: Similarities and Vocabulary (verbal), Block Design (visual spatial), Matrix Reasoning and Figure Weights (fluid reasoning), Digit Span (working memory) and Coding (processing speed). Ten primary subtests give the five primary index scores:

Pearson also reports ancillary indexes built from the same subtests (the General Ability Index, which leaves out working memory and processing speed; the Cognitive Proficiency Index, which is those two; a Nonverbal Index; a Quantitative Reasoning Index; an Auditory Working Memory Index) and complementary indexes for naming speed, symbol translation and storage and retrieval, which are used in reading-difficulty evaluations.

The score bands

Every index and the Full Scale IQ are standard scores with a mean of 100 for the child's age; Pearson's reports describe 90 to 109 as the range typically considered average. The descriptive bands in Pearson's WISC-V reports, with the share of children in each from the normal curve:

Pearson's sample reports show the bands in use: a Full Scale IQ of 132 at the 98th percentile is Extremely High, 121 at the 92nd is Very High, 111 at the 77th is High Average, 97 at the 42nd is Average, 82 at the 12th is Low Average. Every score comes with a confidence interval (a 97 is reported as 91 to 103 at 95 percent confidence), and the psychologist reads the profile across the five indexes, not the single number: a child with a 125 Fluid Reasoning score and an 85 Processing Speed score has a very different school life from one with 105 across the board, and the same Full Scale IQ.

Why an online IQ test is not an IQ test

An IQ is a comparison. The WISC-V's numbers mean something because 2,200 children of known ages took the same items from a trained examiner under the same rules, and a child's raw score is placed against the children of their age in that sample. A website's quiz has none of that: no age norms (a seven-year-old and a twelve-year-old see the same questions), no examiner, no standard conditions, no published reliability, and usually a score inflated to encourage sharing. It can be a pleasant puzzle. It is not evidence a school, a psychologist or a gifted programme will accept, and a child told they "have an IQ of 140" by a website has been given a number with no meaning.

What schools use instead, and when a real IQ test is needed

Schools screen for gifted programmes with 30-to-45-minute group tests that measure reasoning ability without an IQ label: the CogAT (verbal, quantitative and nonverbal batteries), the NNAT (nonverbal only) and the OLSAT. Their scores are also standard scores with a mean of 100, but with a standard deviation of 16 rather than 15, and they are not IQ scores. An individual IQ test enters the picture in three cases: a gifted process whose second stage requires one (some districts accept a private WISC-V report; many psychologists charge several hundred to a few thousand dollars for a full evaluation, and schools evaluate at no cost when they refer); a learning-disability evaluation, where the index profile and the complementary indexes are the point; and a developmental question raised by a paediatrician. In each, the report matters more than the number, and the useful question to ask the psychologist is which index is lowest and what the school should change because of it. The gifted and talented page has the identification process.

Download the child IQ test sheet (PDF) (the two tests at a glance, the five indexes, the score bands and the questions to ask; 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 US curriculum from Grade 1 number work to AP Calculus, chemistry and physics, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, US time, for US$10 to $13 an hour: the report read together in the free 30-minute first class, the domain or the skill the score is really pointing at found, and the term spent on exactly that, with the method written out the way the school marks it. How online tutoring from India to the USA works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.

Sources: Pearson, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition, product page (2014; ages 6:0 to 16:11; core subtests about 60 minutes; FSIQ from Similarities, Vocabulary, Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Figure Weights, Digit Span and Coding; the five primary, five ancillary and three complementary indexes; qualification level C; normative sample of 2,200); Pearson, WISC-V sample score report and interpretive report (the descriptors Extremely Low to Extremely High in use, 90 to 109 as the average range, confidence intervals); Pearson, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition, product page (ages 2:6 to 7:7; completion times by age band; the overlap guidance). The shares and percentiles are the normal-curve reading of a scale with mean 100 and standard deviation 15. Fetched 9 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

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