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Cognitive
Ability
Testing
Objective testing – independently marked and
interpreted by an outside agency
Completed online with both auditory and
visual instructions
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Widely in the UK
Widely in British International Schools
JPGS have introduced this form of testing this
academic year with Year 7 and Year 9
It is planned to introduce this form of testing
with Year 4 and Year 6 next term
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A body of knowledge
These tests cannot be learnt and revised for..
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A child’s ability to manipulate and interpret
different types of symbols which feature in
everyday learning
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A child’s ability to understand and interpret
verbal symbols – WORDS
A child’s ability to understand and interpret
quantitative symbols – NUMBERS
A child’s ability to understand and interpret
non-verbal symbols and patterns – SHAPES
SYMBOLS
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Each individual child’s score is measured
against ALL children of the same age in the
UK and internationally where this form of
testing is used
Each individual child’s score is standardised
taking into account his / her chronological
age
As a school we get the results and the
interpretation of each child’s score
numerically
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A child’s POTENTIAL
Dependent on age…..
Where a child should be as a minimum at the
end of Year 6 in terms of a National
Curriculum Level in each subject
area…particularly Maths English and Science
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Where a child should be at the end of Year 9
in terms of National Curriculum Levels in
different subjects
What sort of minimum IGCSE examination
results a child should be achieving at the end
of Year 11
Even potential results at AS and A level (Years
12 and 13)
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Helps identify strengths and weaknesses of
an individual child so these can be targeted
Identifies a child’s best learning style so staff
in their planning can take this into
consideration
Helps staff know in what areas pupils need
challenging and support
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An individual child may be exceeding the
potential level that the CAT predicts – good
news! JPGS is adding value to the child’s
education as he/she is doing better than
might have been expected
An individual child may not be achieving as
well as the CAT predicts – this may be due to
a number of factors which can be
investigated and hopefully rectified through
intervention within school
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This will come in the form of a letter with
your individual child’s scores
100 is the average
There will be a mean score which is the
average of the 3 tests verbal, quantitative and
non-verbal tests
A score for the verbal test
A score for the quantitative test
A score for the non-verbal test
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Interpretation of what each score means
127 and above
Very High
126 - 112
Above Average
111 - 89
Average
88 - 74
Below Average
73 and below
Very low
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Information regarding potential end of Year
6/9 levels
For example:
English:
Mean: 101 – 6c (end of Year 9) – B (IGCSE)
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For Year 7 we sent out the standardised scores
plus the projected end of Year 9 National
Curriculum levels
For Year 9 we will be sending out the
standardised scores plus the end of Year 9
National Curriculum levels and the projected
IGCSE grades in different subject areas to help
with subject choices for Key Stage 4
The probability in percentage terms of a child
achieving 5 A* - C including English Language
and Maths
Hopefully then pupils will choose subjects that
they are stronger in!
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In consultation with Mr O’Shaughnessy and
Mr Bedford we will feedback information that
will be helpful to you as parents
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Everything I have talked about is referring to
potential…
Children with hard work and a positive
attitude to learning can far exceed their
potential..
Equally children who do not commit
themselves fully to learning can fall short of
their potential
Hopefully you are now more informed about
Cognitive Ability Testing..
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Website for more information on the
Cognitive Ability Tests
www.gl-assessment.co.uk