CCAT score calculator

How this calculator works

The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT), the hiring test, gives you a raw score: the number of questions you got right out of 50. Criteria's score report pairs it with a percentile, which compares you with Criteria's reference group^C3. Criteria publishes the middle and the spread of that group, but not a full table that turns every raw score into a percentile. So we build one from what it does publish.

Criteria has two public norm groups, and both put the median at 24:

• The CCAT Information Brief (2026): 106,740 adults, median 24, standard deviation 7.00^C4.
• The CCAT product page: 985 working adults, median 24, mean 24.2, standard deviation 8.58^C2.

For each group we fit a normal curve with that center and spread. Your percentile is the share of the curve below your score plus half the share at your score, since a raw score is a whole number. That reproduces the one point Criteria does publish: a raw score of 24 "corresponds to a percentile rank of 50"^C3. We run your score through both curves and show the lower and higher result as your range. We round to whole percentiles and never show below the 1st or above the 99th.

The limits, plainly. This is an estimate, not an official percentile. Real score distributions are not perfectly normal, especially near 0 and 50, so the extremes are the least reliable part. Criteria's report is what your employer sees, and employers can also compare you with their own applicant pool. Use the range to judge roughly where you stand, not to argue about one point.

What the numbers mean

Raw score is the number you control. Criteria says the average test taker gets 24 right and that less than 1% of candidates answer all 50^C1. Its help documentation adds that most people won't finish, by design^C9. Not finishing is normal. What matters is how many you get right in the time.

Percentile compares you with Criteria's reference group, not with the people who applied for your job. A percentile of 60 means you did better than about 60% of that group. Because scores bunch near the middle, a few points near 24 move your percentile a lot, and a few points near 40 move it a little. On our estimate, 24 is about the 49th to 50th percentile, 28 is about the 67th to 72nd, and 32 is about the 82nd to 87th.

Job-family floors come from Criteria's sample score report, which lists suggested score ranges for 42 job families^C3. Every range runs to 50, so the floor is the number to clear. The floors sit between 17 and 24. Clearing one means your score is inside Criteria's suggested range for that kind of role, if your employer uses it.

Section scores are optional here. Criteria's report shows spatial reasoning, verbal ability, and math and logic as three separate percentiles^C4, but it doesn't publish how many questions fall in each. If you enter section scores from a practice test, the calculator measures them against our simulator's mix (10 spatial, 16 verbal, 24 math and logic) and points you at the weakest share. That tells you where to practice. It is not a Criteria sub-score.

Company estimates are ours, not Criteria's and not the employer's. Each company page explains how we got its range and how strong the evidence is that the company uses the CCAT at all.

How employers use CCAT cutoffs

There is no passing score on the CCAT. Each employer decides what moves you forward. Criteria calls your score "just one of many factors an employer will take into consideration"^C1.

What Criteria does publish is the set of suggested ranges by job family. Its Information Brief says these ranges "are based on large samples of prior scores from individuals applying for or occupying similar roles," and that employers can build their own ranges from their own staff or applicants^C4. That second part is why a competitive employer can set a bar well above the published floor, and why you usually can't see it.

So read the calculator in layers. Clearing every job-family floor (24 or more) means you are at or above the middle of Criteria's reference group. Clearing a company estimate means you are inside the range we think is competitive there. Neither is a promise of an interview. If you can, ask your recruiter whether there is a minimum. Some will tell you. The full list of floors, with Criteria's own wording, is on what is a good CCAT score, and the percentile model is explained in more depth on CCAT percentiles.

How to raise your score

The planner above tells you how many more correct answers your target needs. Getting them comes down to two levers: answer more questions in 15 minutes, or get more of the ones you answer right. Most people need both, in different amounts.

1. Find out where your points go. Take a full free timed practice test and note how many you reached and how many you got right. Put both numbers in the calculator.
2. Fix pacing first if time ran out on you. Fifty questions in 15 minutes is 18 seconds each on average. The pacing calculator turns your target into checkpoints, and CCAT time management explains when to skip.
3. Fix accuracy by type. If you reached plenty but missed many, find the two or three types that cost you. Start with the CCAT question types overview, then drill the ones you miss: math, verbal, spatial reasoning, or number series.
4. Retest. A second full test tells you whether the practice moved the number. The how to prepare for the CCAT guide lays out a plan by days left.

Criteria uses item banks, so a repeat taker gets a different selection of questions^C10, and memorizing answers does nothing. Knowing the question types and how to spend the time does help. Nobody can promise you a specific score, and you should be wary of anyone who does.