Test guides / OLSAT
OLSAT-style practice for kindergarten to 5th grade
The OLSAT looks at verbal, nonverbal and quantitative reasoning. In kindergarten to 2nd grade the examiner reads every question aloud just once, and children answer by choosing one of four pictures, so careful listening matters. From 3rd grade children read the questions themselves.
Key facts
| The test | Measures verbal, picture and number reasoning. It is not strictly timed, but the limit is 75 minutes. Schools give it on paper or online. |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten to 2nd grade | The teacher reads each question aloud once and does not repeat it. Your child marks one of 4 answer pictures. |
| Question types (K–2) | Following spoken directions, matching a short spoken description or story problem to a picture, and picture and shape puzzles: odd one out, analogies, what comes next and pattern grids. |
| 3rd to 5th grade | Your child reads the questions: word puzzles (opposites, analogies, odd one out, completing sentences), word problems, number patterns and shape puzzles. |
Question types
Verbal Comprehension
In kindergarten to 2nd grade a direction is read aloud once, such as where to find a shape or a letter, and your child marks the picture that matches. From 3rd grade your child reads: opposites, sentences with a missing word, and scrambled words to put in order.
VerbalVerbal Reasoning
In kindergarten to 2nd grade a short story or description is read aloud once, and your child picks the picture that fits it or shows how many. From 3rd grade: word analogies, the word that doesn’t belong, short written word problems, choosing what must be true, and grids of related words or letters. In 4th and 5th grade, conclusions that follow from two or three facts.
NonverbalPictorial Reasoning
Picture analogies (two pictures go together; find the one that goes with a third in the same way), finding the picture that doesn’t belong with the others, and, in kindergarten and 1st grade, picture patterns: what comes next in a row.
NonverbalFigural Reasoning
Shape analogies in a 2×2 grid, shape patterns in a row (which shape comes next), the shape that doesn’t belong (to 3rd grade), and from 1st grade 3×3 pattern grids where shapes change across rows and down columns.
QuantitativeQuantitative Reasoning
Number series (which number comes next), number pairs that follow the same rule, and 3×3 number grids with one number missing.
OLSAT 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.
NNAT® and OLSAT® are trademarks of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. 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.