Parent guide
CAT4 scores explained
A CAT4 report has a lot of numbers. Here's what each one means, and which ones are worth paying attention to.
Standard Age Score (SAS)
The SAS is the main score. It takes your child's raw score and adjusts it for their exact age, then compares it with a large national sample. That makes it fair to compare children of different ages in the same year group.
- 100 is average for your child's age.
- About two-thirds of children score between 85 and 115.
- GL's tables call 112 and above "above average" (stanines 7–8) and 127 and above "very high" (stanine 9).
Your child gets an SAS for each of the four batteries (verbal, quantitative, non-verbal and spatial) and an overall mean SAS.
Stanine
A stanine (short for "standard nine") groups scores into nine bands, from 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest). Stanine 5 is the middle; stanines 4 to 6 are the broad average range, which covers most children. 7 to 9 is above average and 1 to 3 is below average.
National Percentile Rank (NPR)
The NPR tells you what percentage of children of the same age your child scored the same as or better than. An NPR of 50 is exactly average; an NPR of 80 means your child did as well as or better than 80% of children their age. It is not a percentage of questions answered correctly.
Verbal and spatial bias (the profile)
CAT4 compares your child's verbal score with their spatial score to describe how they tend to think and learn. The report places them in one of seven profiles: an extreme, moderate or mild verbal bias, no bias, or a mild, moderate or extreme spatial bias.
- Verbal bias: stronger with words than with spatial images. These children often like reading, discussing and writing things down.
- Spatial bias: stronger with spatial images than with words. These children often learn well from diagrams, models and seeing how things fit together.
- No bias: verbal and spatial skills are balanced, which is a common result.
A bias is not good or bad. It's a description of learning preferences that teachers can use to support your child.
Have your child's report?
Type in the four scores and our free score checker explains them: stanines, percentiles, the verbal/spatial profile, and which areas to practise.
Open the score checkerOther terms on the report, like group rank and confidence bands, are in the CAT4 glossary.
What should parents focus on?
- Look at the pattern across the four areas more than a single number.
- Remember that CAT4 measures reasoning on one day. Tiredness or nerves can lower a score, which is one reason familiarity with the question types helps.
- Ask the school how they use the results. Most use them to plan teaching and set targets, not to label children.
How do Edzuno practice scores compare?
Our practice tests show how many questions your child got right in each area. They aren't standardised against a national sample, so they're not a CAT4 SAS. Use them to spot which question types need more practice.
Take the free practice testQuestions parents ask
What is a good CAT4 score?
The Standard Age Score (SAS) is set so that 100 is average for a child's age. Roughly two-thirds of children score between 85 and 115. GL Assessment's tables call 112 and above "above average" and 127 and above "very high". But CAT4 is not pass or fail: the profile across the four areas matters more than one number.
What does a CAT4 stanine mean?
Stanines group scores into nine bands from 1 to 9. Stanine 5 is the middle; 4 to 6 is the average range; 7 to 9 is above average; 1 to 3 is below average.
What does verbal bias or spatial bias mean?
CAT4 compares a child's verbal and spatial scores. A verbal bias means they are stronger with words than with spatial images; a spatial bias means the reverse. Many children have no bias. It describes how a child tends to learn, not how able they are.