CAT4 non-verbal reasoning: Figure Classification and Figure Matrices

Each figure has a handful of features: its shape, whether it is solid, outlined or half shaded, its size, the number of dots, and which way an arrow points. Some of these change from figure to figure and one or two stay the same. The ones that stay the same are the link.

A good routine is to go through the features in the same order every time, saying "changes" or "same" for each. The wrong answers usually copy one figure closely but break the link, which catches children who match on looks.

In a two-by-two grid, look across the top row to see what changes, then down the left column to see what changes there. The missing figure has both changes. In a three-by-three grid, each row may be the same pattern, or each shape and count may appear once in every row and column, like a sudoku.

The wrong answers often get one change right and one wrong, or get both right and alter something else, such as the size. Checking every feature of the chosen answer before moving on catches those.

The real CAT4 uses its own figures, which can be more varied than ours. The method transfers: list the features, find what stays the same.

Shape questions are the part of CAT4 children are least likely to have met at school. A child who opens the test, sees a grid of shapes they have never seen before and a clock running, can lose confidence for the whole morning. A child who has seen the format once settles straight in.

Because the battery does not use words, it also shows the reasoning of children who are new to English or who find reading hard. Teachers use it for exactly that.

If a question has not given up its link after half a minute, it is best to pick the likeliest answer and move on. A blank scores no more than a wrong answer, and later questions may be easier for your child even if they are harder on paper.

At home, the most useful thing a parent can do is ask "what stays the same?" rather than "what is the answer?". It turns a shape puzzle into a short checklist, and a child who has a checklist is far less likely to freeze when the clock is running.

The spatial reasoning guide covers folding paper and finding hidden shapes, and the free CAT4 practice test runs all eight tests on GL's clocks. The verbal reasoning guide covers the word tests that follow the shape tests on the day.

GL Assessment says plainly that it advises against any kind of practice before CAT4 and does not endorse any practice materials, ours included, because CAT4 is not a test of learnt knowledge and coaching could make a score less accurate. We take that seriously. Our questions are for meeting the formats once or twice so nothing on the day is a shock, not for drilling a child towards a number.