CAT4 spatial reasoning: Figure Analysis and Figure Recognition

Two rules solve nearly every question. First, count the layers: one fold makes two layers, two folds make four, so one punch makes two or four holes. Second, unfold one fold at a time, last fold first, and mirror each hole across that fold line: the same distance from the line, on the other side.

The wrong answers are built from the usual slips: forgetting a fold, mirroring the wrong way, or putting the mirror hole next to the fold instead of the same distance from it.

This is the one CAT4 format worth trying with real paper. Fold a square, punch it with a hole punch or a pencil, and predict the holes before opening it. Five minutes at the kitchen table makes the rule obvious.

The hidden shape is not turned, flipped or resized, and that is what the wrong answers test: one design may hold the shape turned a quarter, another its mirror image, another the shape at twice the size. Only one holds it exactly.

A good method is to pick one distinctive feature of the target, such as a notch or a sharp corner, and hunt for that feature, pointing the right way, in each design. Then check the rest of the outline around it.

The practice examples at the start of each test help, but they are short and the clock starts straight after. This is the battery where seeing the format once, calmly, makes the biggest difference to how a child feels, and it is the battery that most often surprises parents in the results.

Spatial ability is also the battery that can show a strength the classroom misses. Children who are quick at building, drawing, puzzles or games that involve moving things in space often do well here, whatever their reading and writing.

A child with a spatial bias often learns well from diagrams, models and practical work, and may be underestimated by tests that depend on reading. The CAT4 scores page explains the profile and its bands.

As with every CAT4 test, a blank scores no more than a wrong answer. If a question is taking too long, the best move is to rule out answers that are clearly wrong (the wrong number of holes, a shape that is the wrong size) and choose among the rest.

The CAT4 practice test ends with these two tests, as the real one does. The non-verbal reasoning guide covers the other shape battery, and the CAT4 levels page explains which level your child will sit.

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.