CCAT Practice Test: Grade 4, With a Worked Answer Key

The nine subtests at a glance

The CCAT has three parts, called batteries. Each battery has three subtests. This table sets out the test as CogAT Form 7 structures it, and each row matches two questions further down.

These are the subtest names Riverside Insights uses for Levels 10 and up of CogAT Form 7, the US test. Board documents in Ontario tie the CCAT-7 to that edition.

What "Level 10" means, and why older charts say Level B

Each edition of the CCAT comes in levels matched to a child's grade. A Waterloo Catholic school page, posted in January 2023, is the only Ontario board page we found that names the Grade 4 level: "the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test Level 10 (CCAT 7) will be administered to all grade 4 students in the Waterloo Catholic District School Board."

You may also find a Nelson chart that puts Grade 4 at "Level B". That chart comes from a brochure headed "Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (CCAT) Form K Overview". Form K is an earlier edition with letter levels. Its three verbal subtest names are the same as Form 7's. In the other two batteries only Number Series and Figure Classification carry over, and Form K's other four are Quantitative Relations, Equation Building, Figure Analogies and Figure Analysis.

Three pieces of evidence tie the current CCAT-7 to CogAT Form 7:

• Waterloo Catholic's board page calls it "Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test Form 7 – CCAT7".
• Halton Catholic's special education plan writes "CCAT-7/CogAT" and cites the Form 7 planning guide by David F. Lohman.
• Nelson's own score-profile brochure names Dr. David Lohman as the CCAT author and cites the CogAT Form 7 guides.

Riverside groups Levels 10 to 17/18 together in its test descriptions, and it runs one level per grade up to Grade 6.

Nelson does not publish the CCAT-7 subtest list on any page we could read. Its product page now redirects to the Nelson homepage. The subtest names above are the CogAT Form 7 set, and that is the strongest evidence available. If your child's school describes the sections differently, go with the school.

How long it takes and how many questions it has

Riverside lists each subtest at about 10 minutes, for Grade 3 and up. A Halton school's page described the same pattern for its Grade 4 CCAT-7 sitting: "Each section will take approximately 45 mins to administer (3 x 10 minute sections)". In-person classes sat it over three separate days, and virtual learners in one. Nine subtests at 10 minutes each comes to 90 minutes of working time.

On question count, Riverside's norms guide for CogAT Form 7 gives 64 Verbal items at Levels 10 and up. Its score tables show 52 Quantitative and 60 Nonverbal at Level 10, which makes 176. That figure is for the US edition. Nelson does not publish a count for the CCAT-7, so treat 176 as close rather than confirmed.

Answers are multiple choice. A Halton school's page said teachers explain "the scantron multiple choice process" before the test, so the answer sheet should not be new on the day.

Which Ontario boards give the CCAT in Grade 4

Boards do not all run the same process. Some test the whole grade, some test only nominated children, and some use a different test or a different grade.

Waterloo Catholic's pages do not agree with each other. One says the 98th percentile in two batteries leads to further assessment. A secondary school page on the same board says those students are identified as gifted. We have quoted the board-level page in the table.

Hamilton-Wentworth's gifted criteria also carry an adjustment for English Language Learners: the bar drops to the 95th percentile and verbal measures are left out. The board lists that with its WISC-V identification measures. Its page gives no separate CCAT cutoff for English Language Learners.

Grade 4 boards that use a different test

• Peel District School Board uses the Naglieri General Abilities Test (NGAT) as its Grade 4 screener.
• Toronto Catholic District School Board gives the OLSAT8 to all Grade 4 students.
• Halton District School Board, the public board, replaced the CCAT7 with the Naglieri General Ability Tests in its 2026-27 plan. It runs that as a pilot for Grade 4 in November. Older Halton school pages still describe the CCAT. They are out of date.

If your child is at one of these three boards, the questions below show a different test's formats. They are still useful for the general idea, but they are not the test your child will sit.

Boards that test in Grade 3 instead

The Toronto District School Board and York Region District School Board both give the CCAT to all Grade 3 students. By Grade 4, a child at either board has usually already been screened. Toronto also has the strictest preparation rule of any board we found, an outright ban on practice. At York Region, the school's In-School Team can still refer a student for gifted screening after Grade 3, which may begin with an individual CCAT; our Grade 5 CCAT practice test covers that route.

Should a Grade 4 child practise for the CCAT?

This page exists to help with format. It does not claim to raise a score.

A York Catholic school's October 2023 letter to Grade 4 parents puts it simply: "Your child cannot study for this activity, but making sure that your child is well-rested is the best preparation."

That fits how the test is built. Riverside says its questions show "how well students use reasoning skills they have developed to solve problems they have not been directly taught." Knowing more words or more times tables helps a little. Practising the same kinds of puzzle over and over teaches the puzzle, and that tells the board less about your child.

Here is what the boards actually say about preparation:

• Toronto District School Board (Grade 3, not Grade 4): "As such, no advance preparation or practice is permitted. Any evidence of prior exposure, preparation, or practice will render the results invalid and may compromise the integrity of the screening process." If your child is in the TDSB, this page is not for your child's test.
• Halton public: when the board still used the CCAT7, one Halton school's 2022-23 page said families had nothing to prepare beyond "a good nights rest and a breakfast". The same page said teachers would "share a sample of question styles" before the test, so that school treated seeing the formats as fair. The board's current 2026-27 plan, which uses the Naglieri instead, adds a caution: "The validity of results may be impacted by non-novel material." The same plan also says Grade 4 students will be familiarized with the test before they sit it.
• Durham: its only line on practice effects is about a private practitioner repeating an individual test, such as the WISC, that board staff have already given. It is not about the CCAT. In that case Durham wants "a waiting period of at least nine-months to minimize practice effects".
• Hamilton-Wentworth, Waterloo Catholic, Halton Catholic and Ottawa-Carleton: we found no stated position on the pages we read. Ask your school before you start.

None of the Grade 4 boards we checked publishes a ban on practice. But none of them says practice helps either.

So the sensible way to use this page is once, untimed, at the kitchen table. Your child sees each format, you both look at the working, and you put it away. Do not time it and do not repeat it.

The 18 practice questions

Every question below is original and was written for this article. None is reprinted from a CCAT test booklet, a Nelson or Riverside publication, or a test-prep item bank. Real items stay out of public view for a reason: the test is built around problems children have not been taught, and a copied item would already be familiar.

The real nonverbal questions are pictures. Ours describe the pictures in words. That makes them a little harder to read than the real thing, so it is fine to sketch them on paper first.

All the math stays inside the Grade 4 Ontario curriculum: whole numbers, and multiplication facts up to 10 × 10 with their related division facts. If the facts themselves are shaky, our times tables quiz is the better place to start.

Answer all 18 before you look at the key.

Verbal

Question 1 (Verbal Analogies). puppy → dog. kitten → ?

• A. milk
• B. fur
• C. cat
• D. bark
• E. pet

Question 2 (Verbal Analogies). page → book. brick → ?

• A. wall
• B. clay
• C. heavy
• D. red
• E. builder

Question 3 (Sentence Completion). The trail was so ______ that we held on to the rope to keep from slipping.

• A. short
• B. quiet
• C. sunny
• D. steep
• E. wide

Question 4 (Sentence Completion). Maya was ______ to lend her new markers, because her last set came back with the caps missing.

• A. eager
• B. hesitant
• C. proud
• D. careless
• E. thankful

Question 5 (Verbal Classification). oak, maple, pine. Which word belongs with these three?

• A. rose
• B. leaf
• C. grass
• D. forest
• E. birch

Question 6 (Verbal Classification). whisper, shout, mumble. Which word belongs with these three?

• A. listen
• B. loud
• C. mutter
• D. song
• E. quiet

Quantitative

Question 7 (Number Analogies). 2 → 7. 5 → 10. 8 → ?

• A. 11
• B. 13
• C. 15
• D. 16
• E. 40

Question 8 (Number Analogies). 3 → 12. 5 → 20. 7 → ?

• A. 11
• B. 14
• C. 21
• D. 24
• E. 28

Question 9 (Number Puzzles). ? − 6 = 9 + 3

• A. 6
• B. 12
• C. 15
• D. 18
• E. 21

Question 10 (Number Puzzles). If ■ = 7 + 5, then ■ ÷ 3 = ?

• A. 4
• B. 3
• C. 5
• D. 9
• E. 15

Question 11 (Number Series). 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, ?

• A. 25
• B. 28
• C. 29
• D. 30
• E. 34

Question 12 (Number Series). 20, 17, 18, 15, 16, ?

• A. 12
• B. 13
• C. 14
• D. 17
• E. 19

Nonverbal

Question 13 (Figure Matrices). The top row of a grid shows a small white circle, then a large white circle. The bottom row shows a small black square, then an empty box. Which shape goes in the empty box?

• A. a small black square
• B. a large white square
• C. a large black circle
• D. a large black square
• E. a small white square

Question 14 (Figure Matrices). Every box holds the same L-shape: a long bar and a short foot, joined at one corner. Each description says which way the bar and the foot point away from that corner. The top row shows the bar pointing up with the foot pointing right, like a capital L, then the bar pointing right with the foot pointing down. The bottom row shows the bar pointing down with the foot pointing left, then an empty box. Which shape goes in the empty box?

• A. the bar pointing right, with the foot pointing down
• B. the bar pointing left, with the foot pointing down
• C. the bar pointing up, with the foot pointing right
• D. the bar pointing left, with the foot pointing up
• E. the bar pointing down, with the foot pointing right

Question 15 (Paper Folding). A square sheet of paper is folded in half, left side over onto the right side. One hole is punched through both layers, near the top and close to the right-hand edge. The sheet is opened out flat. Where are the holes?

• A. one hole, near the top right corner
• B. two holes near the top, both close to the middle
• C. two holes on the right side, one near the top and one near the bottom
• D. four holes, one near each corner
• E. two holes near the top, one close to each side edge

Question 16 (Paper Folding). A square sheet is folded in half, top edge down onto the bottom edge. Then it is folded in half again, left side over onto the right side. One hole is punched through all the layers, near the bottom right corner of the folded square. The sheet is opened out flat. Where are the holes?

• A. one hole, near one corner
• B. two holes, near the two top corners
• C. four holes, one near each corner
• D. four holes, close together in the centre
• E. two holes, close to the centre

Question 17 (Figure Classification). Three shapes belong together: a triangle with 3 dots inside it, a square with 4 dots inside it, and a pentagon with 5 dots inside it. Which shape belongs with them?

• A. a hexagon with 5 dots inside it
• B. a hexagon with 6 dots inside it
• C. a square with 3 dots inside it
• D. an octagon with 6 dots inside it
• E. a triangle with 4 dots inside it

Question 18 (Figure Classification). Three shapes belong together: a small circle inside a big circle, a small triangle inside a big triangle, and a small square inside a big square. Which shape belongs with them?

• A. a small circle inside a big square
• B. a big triangle next to a small triangle
• C. a small square next to a big circle
• D. a small star inside a big star
• E. two big circles that overlap

Answer key, with the working

The working

Question 1. A puppy grows into a dog, and a kitten grows into a cat. Milk, fur and pet are all things you might link to a kitten, which is the trap. The question asks what it becomes.

Question 2. A page is one piece of a book, and a brick is one piece of a wall. Clay is what a brick is made of, which is a different relationship.

Question 3. The rope and the slipping are the clue. A steep trail is one you can slip down. A short, quiet, sunny or wide trail gives no reason to need a rope.

Question 4. The second half of the sentence gives a reason to be careful. Someone whose markers came back damaged would be hesitant. Eager and proud point the other way.

Question 5. Oak, maple and pine are all kinds of tree, and so is birch. A leaf belongs to a tree and a forest is made of trees, but neither is a kind of tree. A rose and grass are plants, which is too wide a group.

Question 6. Whisper, shout and mumble are all ways of speaking, and so is mutter. Loud and quiet describe speaking rather than being a way to do it. Listening is the other side of it.

Question 7. 2 becomes 7 and 5 becomes 10, so the rule is add 5. Then 8 becomes 13. Check a multiply rule too: 2 × 3 is 6, which already misses 7.

Question 8. 3 becomes 12 and 5 becomes 20. An add rule fails, because 3 + 9 is 12 but 5 + 9 is 14. The rule is multiply by 4, so 7 × 4 = 28.

Question 9. Do the side you can finish first: 9 + 3 = 12. So the missing number take away 6 must be 12, which makes it 18. Check: 18 − 6 = 12.

Question 10. First find ■: 7 + 5 = 12. Then 12 ÷ 3 = 4. The trap answers come from using the wrong operation on 12: 15 is 12 + 3, and 9 is 12 − 3.

Question 11. Each number is 5 more than the one before, so 24 + 5 = 29.

Question 12. The steps go down 3, up 1, down 3, up 1: 20 to 17, 17 to 18, 18 to 15, 15 to 16. The next step is down 3, so 16 − 3 = 13. A child who notices only that the numbers are falling might pick 14 or 12. Checking every step is the skill this format rewards.

Question 13. Across the top row the circle keeps its shape and colour and gets bigger. So the small black square becomes a large black square. A leaves the square as it is, so it misses the size change. B and E change the colour. C changes the shape.

Question 14. Across the top row, the bar goes from up to right and the foot goes from right to down. Both pieces have moved a quarter turn clockwise. A flip cannot do that. Flipping an L always leaves a backwards L, with the foot on the other side of the bar, and the top-right shape is not backwards. So the rule is a quarter turn clockwise. Turn the bottom-left shape the same way: the bar goes from down to left, and the foot goes from left to up. That is D. Check it down the columns too. The left column is a half turn (up becomes down, right becomes left), and a half turn of the top-right shape also gives the bar pointing left with the foot pointing up. B is the right answer flipped over, which is the trap for a child who spots the turn but not the direction of the foot. A copies the top-right box, and it is also what a turn the wrong way, anticlockwise, would give. C and E are the capital L and its flipped copy.

Question 15. The fold puts the left half on top of the right half, with the fold line down the middle. A hole near the right-hand edge goes through both layers. When the sheet opens, one hole sits near the top right and its mirror sits near the top left.

Question 16. The first fold stacks the top half on the bottom half. The second fold stacks the left on the right. That leaves four layers, and the bottom right corner of the folded square is where all four of the sheet's original corners meet. One punch there makes a hole near every corner. Drawing it on a real sheet and trying it is the best way to check.

Question 17. Each shape has as many dots as it has sides: 3 for the triangle, 4 for the square, 5 for the pentagon. A hexagon has 6 sides, so it needs 6 dots. The trap is A. A hexagon is the right next shape, but its 5 dots repeat the pentagon's count instead of matching its own 6 sides.

Question 18. Each figure is a small shape inside a big shape of the same kind. The small star inside the big star follows both parts of the rule. Choice B has the same kind of shape, but side by side rather than inside. Choice A has one inside the other, but the shapes differ.

What to do with your child's answers

Eighteen questions cannot give a score. The real test compares your child with children the same age across Canada, and a percentile only means something against that group. So do not count up the right answers and read anything into the total.

What the answers can tell you is simpler. Look for a format your child did not understand at all, rather than one they got wrong. A child who could not work out what a paper-folding question was asking is the child who will lose time on it in the real test. A child who understood it and made a slip is fine.

If one battery felt much harder than the others, that is worth knowing too, because boards read the three batteries separately. Hamilton-Wentworth's route that uses the CCAT alone needs verbal and nonverbal both at the 98th percentile. Waterloo Catholic looks for two strong batteries out of three. A lopsided profile is normal and is not a problem to fix.

After that, stop. You have done what a practice page can do.

When the report comes home

Boards report the CCAT as percentile ranks and stanines for each battery. Peel's CCAT 7 parent template described it as scores "reported in percentile and stanine scores for three CCAT 7 sub-tests and an overall composite score". A percentile rank tells you where your child sits among Canadian children the same age. It is not a mark out of 100.

If your child moves on to a second stage, it is usually an individual test arranged by the board's psychology services, often the WISC-V. The board then brings the results to an Identification, Placement and Review Committee, which decides whether your child is identified as gifted and where they are placed. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) follows from that decision. Our full guide to the CCAT covers what happens at each of those steps.