CAT4 Question Types: All 14 Types with Visual Examples
The CAT4 (Cognitive Abilities Test) assesses children across four batteries, each containing multiple question types that measure different aspects of cognitive ability. In total, there are 14 distinct question types.
Understanding what each question type looks like and how it works gives your child a significant advantage on test day. Below, we walk through every question type with visual examples, explain the underlying reasoning skill, and offer practical preparation tips.
Verbal Reasoning
The Verbal Reasoning battery measures a child's ability to think about and solve problems expressed in words. It assesses vocabulary, verbal logic, and the ability to identify relationships between concepts. This battery contains three question types.
Verbal Analogies
In a verbal analogy question, the child is given a pair of words with a specific relationship (e.g. opposites, part-to-whole, cause-and-effect). They must then identify another pair of words that shares the same relationship. This tests the ability to recognise and transfer logical relationships between concepts.
Complete the relationship:
Tip: Encourage your child to name the relationship aloud before looking at the answer options. "Hot is the opposite of cold, so I need the opposite of big."
Verbal Classification
The child sees a group of words that share a common category or property, and must identify the odd one out — the word that does not belong. This requires both vocabulary knowledge and the ability to categorise concepts at an abstract level.
Which word does not belong?
Four words are types of tree. The odd one out is brick.
Tip: Ask your child to think about what the majority of words have in common, rather than trying to find what makes one word different. The positive approach is faster and less error-prone.
Verbal Sequences
This type presents a sequence of words that follow a logical order (e.g. chronological, hierarchical, or alphabetical). The child must identify what comes next. It tests the ability to detect patterns in language and reason about ordered relationships.
What comes next in the sequence?
Tip: Look for the "direction" of the sequence — is it getting bigger, older, more general, or more specific?
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning measures the ability to use numbers to solve problems. Unlike maths tests, it focuses on spotting numerical patterns and relationships rather than performing calculations. This battery has two question types.
Number Series
The child sees a sequence of numbers and must work out the rule governing the pattern to predict the next number. Rules can involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, alternating operations, or combinations of these.
Find the pattern and complete the series:
Each number doubles. The answer is 48.
Tip: Write down the difference between each consecutive pair. If the differences are constant, it is an addition pattern. If the differences themselves form a pattern, look for multiplication or alternating rules.
Number Analogies
Similar to verbal analogies, but with numbers. The child sees two or more pairs of numbers connected by a mathematical rule, and must apply the same rule to find the missing number. This tests the transfer of numerical reasoning from one context to another.
Spot the relationship between each pair:
Each number is doubled. The answer is 12.
Tip: Identify the operation by comparing the first pair. Then verify it with the second pair before applying it to the third.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning uses shapes and figures instead of words or numbers. It measures fluid intelligence — the ability to reason about novel problems without relying on learned knowledge. This battery is considered the most "culture-fair" of the four and contains three question types.
Figure Matrices
The child sees a 3×3 grid of shapes where each row and column follows a consistent rule (e.g. same colour per row, same shape per column). One cell is missing, and the child must select the figure that completes the pattern. This is one of the most common question types on the CAT4.
Which figure completes the 3×3 matrix?
Pattern: each row uses the same colour; each column uses the same shape. The missing cell is an amber star.
Tip: Examine both the rows and columns separately. The correct answer must satisfy the rules in both directions simultaneously.
Figure Classification
The child sees a group of figures that share one or more properties (e.g. all have curved edges, all contain exactly two shapes, all use the same colour). They must select from the answer options the figure that belongs to the same group.
Which shape shares the same property as the group?
Group:
All group shapes are curved (no straight edges). The answer is B (a circle).
Tip: Look at shape, colour, size, number of sides, orientation, and the number of elements. The shared property may be subtle.
Figure Analogies
Like verbal analogies, but using shapes. The child sees a transformation applied to one figure (e.g. doubled in size, rotated, colour changed) and must apply the identical transformation to a new figure. This tests the ability to recognise and transfer abstract visual rules.
Apply the same transformation:
The transformation doubles the size. A small green triangle becomes a large green triangle.
Tip: Describe the transformation in words: "It got bigger" or "It rotated and changed colour." Then apply the same description to the new shape.
Spatial Ability
The Spatial Ability battery measures how well a child can mentally manipulate shapes and objects in two and three dimensions. It is the largest battery, containing six question types, and is often the one where targeted practice produces the biggest score improvements.
Pattern Rotation
The child sees a shape and must identify what it looks like after being rotated by a specified angle (typically 90° or 180°). The shape is rotated, not flipped — this distinction is important and trips up many children.
Which option shows the shape rotated 90° clockwise?
Original
90° CW
Children must mentally rotate the figure without flipping it.
Tip: Focus on one distinctive feature (like a corner or notch) and track where it moves. This anchoring technique makes rotation much easier.
Mirror Images
The child must identify the mirror reflection of a given shape. Unlike rotation, mirroring flips the shape along an axis, reversing its orientation. Left-right mirror images are most common, but top-bottom reflections also appear.
Which option is the mirror image?
Original
Reflection
The shape is flipped horizontally along a vertical axis.
Tip: Imagine placing a mirror along the axis line. Which way would the shape face? Practise by holding a physical mirror next to drawings.
Paper Folding
A piece of paper is shown being folded one or more times, then a hole is punched through the folded paper. The child must predict what the paper looks like when unfolded. Each fold creates a symmetry axis that doubles the number of holes.
A square paper is folded and a hole is punched. What does it look like unfolded?
1. Start
2. Fold
3. Punch
4. Unfold
The hole appears symmetrically on both halves when unfolded.
Tip: Work backwards from the punch. For each fold, reflect the hole(s) across the fold line. Physical practice with real paper is extremely helpful for this type.
Cube Nets
The child sees a flat net (a cross-shaped arrangement of six coloured faces) and must determine which 3D cube it would form when folded. Each face may contain a colour, pattern, or symbol. The child needs to understand which faces are adjacent and how symbols orient when folded.
Which cube can be made from this net?
Children must mentally fold the flat net into a 3D cube and identify which faces are adjacent.
Tip: Focus on which faces are opposite each other (they can never be seen at the same time on a cube). Eliminate answer options where opposite faces appear side by side.
Pattern Completion
A large pattern or design has a missing section. The child must choose the piece that correctly completes it. This tests attention to detail, spatial awareness, and the ability to extrapolate visual patterns.
Which piece completes the pattern?
The child must identify the pattern rule (each cell contains a different shape) to select the correct missing piece.
Tip: Look at the edges of the missing section carefully. The correct piece must match the surrounding pattern seamlessly in terms of lines, colours, and shapes.
Figure Recognition
The child is shown a simple target shape and must find it hidden within a complex design made up of overlapping lines, shapes, and patterns. The target shape maintains its exact size and orientation but is camouflaged by the surrounding elements.
Find the target shape hidden in the complex design:
Target
Complex design
The purple triangle is hidden among overlapping lines, circles, and rectangles.
Tip: Trace the outline of the target shape with your finger, then try to find the same outline within the complex figure. Ignore colours and focus on edges.
How to Practise All 14 Question Types
Now that you know what every question type looks like, the best next step is to let your child experience them firsthand. MindScout's free starter test covers all four batteries and all 14 question types with questions generated by our AI engine, so your child gets realistic practice with fresh questions every time.
After the starter test, theparent dashboard will show you exactly which question types your child finds challenging, so you can focus practice time where it will have the greatest impact on their CAT4 score.