CCAT question types, explained with examples

What does the CCAT test?

The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT), the hiring test from Criteria Corp, has 50 questions and a 15-minute limit^C1. Criteria says it measures three abilities: verbal ability, math and logic, and spatial reasoning. Employers get a sub-score for each one beside your overall score^C2. (This is not the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test that schools use for gifted programs.)

Here is what Criteria says each area covers, and the question formats that show up under it.

The descriptions in the middle column paraphrase Criteria's candidate page^C1. The right column is ours: the formats that fit each description, as we've built them for practice.

One thing the three-area split hides: Criteria puts logic inside math. A question like "Theo finished before Jules" has no numbers in it, but it lands in the math and logic sub-score. We practice logic as its own domain because it takes a different habit (draw the chain, check what the premises don't say) than arithmetic does.

How many of each question type are on the CCAT?

Criteria doesn't publish a count per area or per type. It draws each test from a large item bank, and it says no two candidates get the exact same set of questions^C2. So nobody outside Criteria can tell you "you'll get exactly six spatial questions." Anyone who does is guessing.

We had to pick a mix for our own simulator. This is it, and it is our choice, not Criteria's:

The practical point holds either way: math and verbal make up most of the test, and spatial is a meaningful slice. If you have three days, don't spend two of them on one type.

Our 29 practice families

A practice family is our name for one repeatable question format with one solving method. "Percentages" is a family. "Mirror images" is a family. We split our bank of more than 4,000 practice questions into 29 of them, grouped in four domains: math, verbal, logic and spatial.

To be clear: these families are how Clever Cat Prep organizes practice. Criteria doesn't publish a list of question types, and our questions are our own, written to match the formats Criteria describes. The tables below link to pages with worked examples for each group.

What math questions are on the CCAT?

Math is the biggest domain in our bank: 12 of the 29 practice families. None of it is advanced. Criteria says the math needs no calculator^C1, and the difficulty comes from the clock, not the concepts. At 50 questions in 15 minutes you have 18 seconds per question on average, so a percent problem you could solve in 40 seconds is still a problem.

Two groups need a different approach. Number sequences are pattern problems, closer to logic than arithmetic: you're looking for a rule, not computing. Word problems (rates, work, algebra) reward translation: the faster you turn the sentence into one equation, the faster you're done.

What verbal questions are on the CCAT?

Verbal questions test vocabulary and how words relate, not reading long passages. Criteria's description is "precise meaning," how words relate, and how context affects word choice^C1. Most verbal questions are fast if you know the word and slow if you don't, so the strategy is simple: answer instantly or guess and move on.

Exact matching is the odd one here. It is a detail check: you compare pairs of names or codes and count the ones that match exactly. It needs no vocabulary, only careful eyes, and it is easy to rush. See worked examples on our CCAT verbal questions page.

What logic questions are on the CCAT?

Logic questions give you a few statements and ask what follows. Criteria counts them in the math and logic sub-score. We split them out because they need a different habit: read exactly what's stated, and don't fill in what isn't.

The true, false or uncertain questions catch people who answer from common sense instead of the premises. "Uncertain" is often right, and it feels like a cop-out. Our CCAT syllogisms page covers the patterns, and CCAT logic questions covers ordering, letter sequences and overlapping groups.

What spatial reasoning questions are on the CCAT?

Spatial questions are the ones people don't expect. They're pictures: shapes turned, flipped, or changing step by step. Criteria describes rotating or flipping shapes, recognizing patterns, and identifying the item that doesn't belong^C1. If you have never done these before, the first few cost you a lot of time, which is the best argument for practicing them.

The fastest single skill here is telling a rotation from a reflection. A shape with no mirror symmetry and its mirror image can never be rotated into each other, so one check rules out half the options. Our CCAT spatial reasoning questions page has six worked examples.

How do you recognize a CCAT question type in two seconds?

On a 15-minute test, the first seconds of each question matter most. If you know the type the moment you see it, you also know your first move, and you know whether this is a question to answer now or guess on. These are the cues we teach:

Criteria's own advice is to make an educated guess and move on if a question takes more than a minute^C1. We'd set the limit lower. Fewer than 1% of candidates answer all 50^C1, and Criteria's help docs say the time pressure is by design^C3. A minute on one question is the cost of about three others. There's no penalty for a wrong answer, so a guess is always better than a blank.

How should you practice by question type?

Knowing the types is step one. Here is the order we'd work in if your test is days away:

1. Take one full timed test first. Our free CCAT practice test is 50 questions in 15 minutes, mixed like the real thing. It shows which types cost you time, not just which ones you miss.
2. Put your score in context. The CCAT score calculator estimates where a raw score sits against Criteria's published norms, and what a target score means for you.
3. Drill the two or three slowest types, not all 29. One family at a time until the first move is automatic, then mixed sets so the switching is automatic too.
4. Plan your pace. The CCAT pacing calculator turns a target score into seconds per question and a checkpoint for each minute.
5. Check what your employer expects. Some employers publish more than others. Our list of companies that use the CCAT collects what's public, with sources.

Every type page links to worked questions. If you want the whole picture of the test first, read what the CCAT is and the CCAT rules, then come back here. And if you're stuck on a format on this page, ask Clever below: it can walk you through any of the examples.