IQ Test for Kids and Children

Child IQ tests such as the WISC-V (ages 6 to 16) and the Stanford-Binet are given one to one by a trained psychologist, usually over an hour or more. They mix spoken questions, puzzles, memory tasks and speed tasks, and they compare a child with a large sample of children the same age, often to within a few months.

Schools use group reasoning tests too, such as CAT4 in the UK and CogAT in the US. These are screening tools rather than diagnoses, and results usually reach parents through the school.

The puzzles are visual, so children who are still learning to read can follow them. But the timer, difficulty and scoring are the same as for adults, and there is no age adjustment. A 9 year old will usually get far fewer right than an adult, which says nothing about how they compare with other 9 year olds.

• Best used as a shared puzzle session: you take it, then talk through a few questions together.
• Under-8s will find most questions too hard, which can be discouraging.
• Never treat the number as a diagnosis or share it as your child's IQ.

On age-normed tests, 100 is average at every age, so a 7 year old and a 10 year old can both score 100 while solving very different puzzles. That is the whole point of age norms, and it is exactly what our test does not do.

Scores are also less stable in young children than in teenagers and adults. They can move noticeably between testings, especially before about age 8, which is one reason psychologists look at patterns over time rather than a single result.

If your child is struggling at school, seems far ahead, or you have any concern about learning or development, talk to their teacher first. In the UK the school's special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) can advise; in the US you can ask the school about an evaluation.

They can arrange an age-appropriate assessment if one is needed. No online test, including this one, can diagnose anything.