Is the CCAT hard? Why almost nobody finishes, and how to prepare
The questions on the CCAT are mostly not hard; the clock is. You get 50 questions in 15 minutes, which is 18 seconds a question, and the test's publisher, Criteria Corp, says less than 1% of candidates answer all 50 and the average test taker gets 24 right. So it feels hard to almost everyone, and that is by design.
What the CCAT is
The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test is a pre-employment test of problem solving, critical thinking and learning ability. Criteria recommends it for mid- to high-level jobs that require problem solving, and says it has been given more than 10 million times.
The questions come in three kinds:
- Verbal: word meanings, analogies, sentence completion, short logic statements.
- Maths and logic: arithmetic, percentages, ratios, number series, word problems, reading small tables.
- Spatial reasoning: shape sequences, odd one out, which figure comes next.
No calculator is allowed, and there is no penalty for a wrong answer.
Why it feels hard
Three things make the CCAT harder than its questions.
The time. At 18 seconds a question there is no room to read twice or work a sum out on paper. Most people who would get a question right with a minute to spare get it wrong, or never reach it, at 18 seconds.
The mix. The kinds of question are shuffled, so you switch from an analogy to a percentage to a rotated shape with no warm-up. Each switch costs a few seconds while your head changes gear.
The length you don't reach. Because almost nobody finishes, the last questions you see are not the ones that decide your score; the ones you skip or rush earlier do. People who are used to tests they can finish tend to spend too long on the first ten.
What the CCAT does not do is ask advanced content. The maths is school arithmetic, the words are everyday vocabulary, and the shapes follow a handful of rules. Someone with no time limit would get most of them right.
What a question looks like
These are our own examples of the kind asked, not real CCAT items.
Maths: A jacket costs $48 after a 20% discount. What was the price before the discount?
The trap is to add 20% of $48 back ($57.60). The discount was 20% of the original, so $48 is 80% of it: 48 ÷ 0.8 = $60. A quick check: 20% of $60 is $12, and $60 − $12 = $48.
Logic: All analysts in the firm are early risers. Some early risers are runners. Is it true that some analysts are runners?
The answer is uncertain. The runners among the early risers might all be people who are not analysts. Nothing in the two statements links runners to analysts, so neither "true" nor "false" follows. The guide to logic questions lists the three outcomes and the rule that decides each.
Both take a few seconds once you know the move, and much longer if you work them out from scratch. That difference is most of what practice buys.
How it is scored
Employers receive two numbers: your raw score, the number of questions you got right out of 50, and your percentile, how you did compared with the people Criteria uses as its comparison group. Criteria gives employers custom score ranges for different positions, so a score that clears the bar for one job may not clear it for another.
That is why there is no single "pass mark" to aim for, and why lists of "the score you need for company X" online should be read with suspicion. We don't publish target scores either: we have no access to employers' ranges.
How to prepare
The research on retesting gives a sense of what to expect. A meta-analysis of 107 samples and 134,436 people found that scores on cognitive ability tests rise on a second attempt by about a quarter of a standard deviation (an adjusted effect size of 0.26), and by more when the practice came with coaching on the test. That is a real gain, not a transformation.
How we would prepare:
- Learn each question type once, properly. Twenty minutes on each kind: what it asks, the usual traps, the quickest move. Our CCAT page lists them; the numerical reasoning guide covers the percentage and ratio traps.
- Then practise each type against the clock. Aim for answers in 15 to 20 seconds. The goal is to recognise the move, not to calculate faster.
- Take two or three full timed runs. Fifty questions in 15 minutes shows you how many you reach, where the time went, and whether you dwelt too long on one question. A timed mixed mock does this.
- Fix your skipping rule. Criteria's own advice is that if you have spent more than a minute on a question you should guess and move on. We would make the cut much earlier: if you can't see the method in about 15 seconds, guess and go.
On test day
Read the instructions fully before starting, as Criteria advises; the clock does not start until you begin. Answer every question, since a wrong answer costs nothing. Don't try to check your work.
Our view, and what practice can't do
Our opinion: the single most useful skill for the CCAT is letting go of a question. People who score well are rarely the ones who solve everything; they are the ones who don't lose a minute to question 9 and so reach question 35.
The limitation: practice makes you faster at known question types and steadier under the clock, which is what the 0.26 figure reflects. It doesn't change the reasoning ability the test is trying to measure, and nobody outside Criteria and the employer knows the cut-off for a given job. That is why we would keep practising right up to the test rather than stop after a few sessions: the gain in the research was larger when practice came with coaching on the question types, which is what worked explanations give you, and timed runs keep your pace where it needs to be.
Questions people ask
How many questions do people get right on the CCAT?
Criteria says the average test taker gets 24 of the 50 right, and fewer than 1% answer all 50.
Can you use a calculator on the CCAT?
No. Criteria's candidate page says no calculators are allowed, so the maths is kept to sums you can do in your head or on scrap paper.
Is there negative marking on the CCAT?
No. A wrong answer costs nothing, so guess rather than leave a question blank.
What is a good CCAT score?
It depends on the job: Criteria gives employers custom score ranges per position, and employers set their own bars. Above the average of 24 puts you ahead of most test takers.
How long should I prepare for the CCAT?
Start with short daily sessions at least a week or two ahead and keep going until test day. Retest research found the biggest gains when practice came with coaching on the question types.
Practise for it
preplaud has timed practice with worked explanations for the CCAT, and for the other aptitude tests employers use, the SAT, GRE and GMAT, and quant interviews. Start free, with no account needed; Premium opens every level and the full mock tests, with a 7-day free trial.