Parent guide

CAT4 scores and gifted and talented: what score counts?

Your child's CAT4 report is home, one score is in the 120s or 130s, and you're wondering whether that makes them "gifted". The honest answer is that it depends on the school. Here's how schools use CAT4 to find gifted and talented pupils, the numbers they tend to use, and what to ask.

There's no official gifted score

CAT4 reports place each score in a band. The top two bands are the ones schools look at for gifted and talented: [1]

Stanine	Standard Age Score	Share of children	Described as
9	127 and above	4%	Very high
8	119–126	7%	Above average
7	112–118	12%	Above average

Those bands describe how a score compares with other children of the same age. They don't say "gifted". We found no gifted cut-off in GL's guidance for parents. Instead, each school writes its own gifted and talented policy and decides which scores, and which other evidence, it uses.

What UAE schools use

Dubai schools often base their definitions on the KHDA inspection framework. One Dubai school's policy quotes it like this: the definitions "take account of the 'Differentiation Model of Giftedness and Talent' and align with international best practice." [3] That model separates two ideas: [3]

Gifted: exceptional natural ability in one or more areas (intellectual, creative, social or physical), which may not yet show in schoolwork. A gifted child can underachieve.
Talented: a child who has turned that ability into exceptional performance.

CAT4 measures reasoning ability, so it can point to giftedness, even in a child whose marks don't show it yet. How schools turn that into a rule varies. Global Indian International School in Dubai, for example, publishes its policy: [3]

CAT4 score	Schoolwork	Identified as
120–129 in one or more areas	Below what's expected	Highly able
130 or above in one or more areas	In line with or above what's expected	Gifted and talented

Other schools use other numbers. In the other school policies and guides we've seen, the lines quoted run from about 120 to 130, and some count one high area while others look at all four. A score that counts as gifted at one school may not at the next, so the school's own policy is what matters.

A score is never the whole story

Schools that use CAT4 well don't rely on it alone. The same Dubai policy lists nine ways a child can be identified, and CAT4 data is only one of them. The others include teacher referrals and checklists, parent nominations with evidence, previous school records, internal assessment results and, where needed, an educational psychologist's report. [3] Three things about the numbers are worth knowing too:

Every score has a margin. GL puts a typical band of about plus or minus five points around each score. [1] [2] A 126 and a 131 may not be really different, which is why a hard cut-off at 127 or 130 should be read with care.
One high area is different from four. A 132 in spatial ability with average scores elsewhere tells a different story from 125 across the board. Many policies count one high area; the profile shows how the areas fit together. Our CAT4 profile guide explains that part.
The verbal score can undersell children learning English. GL warns that a child still learning English may score lower on verbal reasoning than their real ability. [5] In UAE schools this matters: a gifted child may show it in the other three areas first.

If your child scored 120 or more

Our suggestions:

Ask the school for its gifted and talented policy. Many Dubai schools publish it, often as a PDF on their website.
Ask whether your child has been placed on the school's gifted and talented or "more able" register, and on what evidence.
Ask what the school offers: extension work, enrichment clubs, competitions or faster pacing. The policy usually lists these.
Share what you see at home: a deep interest, a skill outside school, a project they started themselves. Parent nominations count in many policies.

Use the CAT4 score checker to see your child's four scores side by side, with their stanines and profile.

If your child scored lower than you hoped

A score below a school's line doesn't mean your child isn't able. CAT4 is one morning's work, and every score has a margin. Talent in music, sport, art or leadership won't show on CAT4 at all, and policies like the one above recognise those areas separately. [3] If the school's picture doesn't match what you see, ask how they combined CAT4 with other evidence.

Should my child practise to get into the gifted group?

No. GL strongly advises against practising for CAT4, because it makes the scores less reliable. [4] A score raised by drilling can place a child in a group that moves too fast for them, which helps nobody. Reading, puzzles and talking through problems build the same reasoning without distorting the test. Our practice puzzles are for familiarity, not for chasing a score.

Questions parents ask

What CAT4 score is gifted and talented?

There's no official one. Each school sets its own line in its gifted and talented policy, usually somewhere between 120 and 130, and combines it with other evidence. One Dubai school, for example, identifies pupils scoring 130 or above in one or more areas, with schoolwork in line with expectations, as gifted and talented.

Is a CAT4 score of 130 good?

Yes, very. 127 and above is stanine 9, the top band, which only about 4% of children of the same age reach.

Is 120 a gifted CAT4 score?

It's stanine 8, above average and better than about nine in ten children of the same age. Some schools count 120 to 129 as "highly able" rather than gifted; the school's own policy decides.

Does one high CAT4 score count, or do all four need to be high?

It depends on the school. Many policies count a high score in any one area; others look at all four together. A single high score with average scores elsewhere is common, and the CAT4 profile shows how the areas fit together.

Where do I find my school's gifted and talented policy?

Ask the school. Many Dubai schools publish their gifted and talented policy on their website, often as a PDF, and it lists the CAT4 scores and other evidence they use.

More on CAT4

CAT4 scores explained · CAT4 profile explained · CAT4 levels by year · CAT4 in Dubai and the UAE

Sources

Edzuno is independent and not affiliated with GL Education (GL Assessment), KHDA or any school named here. CAT4 is a trademark of GL Education.