Test guides / CogAT
CogAT-style practice for kindergarten to 5th grade
The CogAT is one of the most widely used gifted and talented screeners in US schools. It looks at three kinds of reasoning: verbal, quantitative and nonverbal. In kindergarten to 2nd grade every question is a picture, and the teacher reads the directions aloud. From 3rd grade children read words and numbers, and each part is timed.
Key facts
| Kindergarten to 2nd grade | Everything is pictures, so no reading is needed. The teacher reads the sentence questions aloud, and nothing is timed. Each question has 4 picture answers. |
|---|---|
| 3rd grade and up | Your child reads the questions. Each part is timed at 10 minutes, and each question has 5 answer choices. |
| Forms | Schools use Form 7 or Form 8. Both have the same kinds of questions. Shorter spoken directions came out in March 2025. |
Question types
Picture Analogies
Two pictures at the top go together in some way. Your child finds the picture that goes with the third picture in the same way.
VerbalPicture Classification
Three pictures are alike in some way. Your child picks the answer picture that belongs with them.
VerbalSentence Completion
A sentence or question is read aloud, and your child picks the picture that answers it.
VerbalVerbal Analogies
Two words go together in some way. Your child picks the word that goes with a third word in the same way.
VerbalVerbal Classification
Three words are alike in some way. Your child picks the word that belongs in the same group.
VerbalSentence Completion (reading)
Your child reads a sentence with a missing word and picks the word that completes it best.
QuantitativeNumber Analogies
Like picture analogies, but the link is about amounts: one more, double, half, taking some away. From 3rd grade the pictures become pairs of numbers, and in 4th–5th grade a rule can have two steps (times 3, then minus 1).
QuantitativeNumber Puzzles
In K–1, two trains must carry the same number of things; your child picks the car that makes it so. From 2nd grade there are also small equations with a missing number, and from 3rd grade shapes stand for numbers that your child substitutes.
QuantitativeNumber Series
Strings of beads follow a pattern; your child picks the string that comes next. In 3rd grade most items are written numbers, and from 4th grade all of them are.
NonverbalFigure Matrices
A 2×2 grid of shapes has one empty box. The change from left to right on the top row happens again on the bottom row.
NonverbalFigure Classification
Three figures are alike. Your child picks the figure that is alike in the same way.
NonverbalPaper Folding
A piece of paper is folded and cut (or, from 3rd grade, hole-punched). Your child picks how it looks unfolded.
CogAT practice by grade
How to practice without pressure
- Two or three 15-minute sessions a week beat one long one.
- Familiarity is the goal: a child who has seen the formats is calmer on the day.
- Praise the thinking (“you checked every box!”), not the score.
- Stop while it's still fun.
GiftedCub practice is designed to help children feel familiar and comfortable with question formats. It is not the actual test, and no practice service can guarantee a score or placement.
CogAT® is a registered trademark of Riverside Assessments, LLC. These owners are not affiliated with and do not endorse GiftedCub. Test names are used only to describe the formats our original practice material is designed to resemble.