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CCAT practice: what's on the test and how to prepare
The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT) is a short, fast screening test that many employers send after an application. It has 50 questions and 15 minutes, which is less than 20 seconds a question, and almost nobody finishes. Knowing the question types and how to pace yourself makes a real difference.
The test at a glance
| Questions | 50 |
|---|---|
| Time | 15 minutes, under 20 seconds a question |
| Question types | Verbal, math and logic, and spatial reasoning, mixed together |
| Calculator | Not allowed |
| What the employer sees | Your raw score (the number right) and your percentile against everyone who has taken it |
| A typical score | About 24 right; fewer than 1% of candidates answer all 50 |
| Wrong answers | No penalty, so never leave a question blank |
What the questions look like
Criteria groups the questions into three kinds. Here is what to practise for each, and where to find it here:
- Verbal: word meanings (nearest meaning and opposites), word analogies and sentence completion. Practise vocabulary and sentence completion.
- Math and logic: number series, word problems, reading tables and charts, and short deductions. Practise number series, word problems, data tables and syllogisms.
- Spatial reasoning: finding the pattern in a grid or a sequence of shapes, and spotting the odd one out. Practise matrices, visual series and odd one out.
Every practice question here is generated and checked to have exactly one right answer. None is copied from the real test. Another short mixed test, with its own format: Wonderlic, and Cubiks Logiks.
How to prepare
- Learn each question type once, properly. Most of the gain from practice comes from familiarity with the format: a meta-analysis of retesting found scores rise by about a quarter of a standard deviation on a second attempt, and more with coaching. The guides explain each type and its traps.
- Then practise against the clock. Every track has a timed mode. Speed matters as much as accuracy when you have 20 seconds a question.
- Take full mocks. A 50-question, 15-minute mock shows your pacing: how many you reach and where the time went.
- Pace like the test wants. Criteria's own advice: if you've spent more than a minute on a question, make an educated guess and move on. There's no penalty for wrong answers, so guess rather than leave a blank.
Start now
Practice here is free up to level 3, with 15 new questions a day on a free account. Unlimited questions, levels 4 to 6 and the full 50-question mock come with paid access.
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Sources
- Criteria Corp: What to expect on the CCAT (questions, time, question types, calculator, scoring, completion, pacing advice)
- Criteria Corp: CCAT (the standardisation sample's average of about 24)
- Hausknecht et al. (2007), Retesting in selection: a meta-analysis of coaching and practice effects for tests of cognitive ability