CCAT prep plan
Take one full timed test first, so you know where you lose points. Spend the next days drilling the two or three question types that cost you the most, then take a second timed test to check that it worked. That is the whole plan; the rest of this page is the detail, day by day, with shorter versions for 48 hours and for the same day.
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The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT), the hiring test Criteria Corp sells to employers, gives you 50 questions and 15 minutes "to answer as many questions as you can"C1. No calculator is allowedC1. Criteria reports results as a raw score, which is the number you get right, plus a percentile and three sub-scores: spatial reasoning, verbal ability, and math and logicC5.
Two facts shape everything below. First, you aren't meant to finish. Criteria says fewer than 1% of candidates answer all 50C1, and its help docs call that "by design": the test measures "how quickly someone processes information"C3. Second, there is no penalty for a wrong answerC1, so a guess is never worse than a blank. That means preparation is mostly about speed: recognizing a question type in two seconds, knowing the fast route, and knowing when to let go.
Can you actually prepare? Criteria says yes in its own way. It gives every candidate "the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the test, or with similar tests," and uses item banks so a repeat taker "will get a different selection of items"C4. You can't memorize answers. You can learn the question types and the clock. This is not the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test that schools use; that test shares the acronym and nothing else.
A baseline is one full, timed, 50-question test taken before you study. It is the only way to see your real problem, because the CCAT's problem is almost never "I don't know how to do percentages." It's "I spent 70 seconds on question 14 and never saw questions 38 to 50."
A baseline tells you which of three problems you have. If you reached 30 questions and got 25 right, your accuracy is fine and your pacing isn't. If you reached 45 and got 22 right, you're rushing. If one question type took a third of your time, that's your first drill. Each needs a different plan, and you can't tell them apart without the timed test.
Treat the score as a map, not a verdict. A practice score is not a CCAT score: it can only compare you with yourself. For what a raw score means against Criteria's reference groups, see the CCAT percentile chart.
Each day takes 20 to 40 minutes. If you have more time, spend it on drills for your weakest types, not on extra full tests.
| Day | Focus | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Take a full timed test as your baseline | 30 to 40 minutes |
| Day 2 | Read the baseline and pick two weak types | 30 minutes |
| Day 3 | Drill math under a per-question clock | 30 minutes |
| Day 4 | Drill verbal and logic | 30 minutes |
| Day 5 | Drill spatial reasoning | 30 minutes |
| Day 6 | Take a second full timed test and compare | 30 to 40 minutes |
| Day 7 | Light review and test-day setup | 20 minutes |
Take one 50-question, 15-minute practice test under test conditions. No calculator, no pausing, phone in another room. Don't study first. You want to know where you stand today, not where you stand after an hour of cramming.
When it's done, write down three numbers before you look at anything else:
Your first session on Clever Cat Prep is free, and our free CCAT practice test gives you an AI debrief afterwards that does this breakdown for you, by question type.
Sort every lost point from day 1 into one of three buckets:
Pick the two question types that cost you the most and read how they work. Each type page has worked examples with the fast route and the common trap: math, verbal, logic and spatial reasoning. Then drill 20 to 30 questions of each.
Math is the largest domain in our simulator (18 of 50 questions, our own mix, not a count Criteria publishes), and it's where small habits save the most seconds. Drill percentages, ratios, fractions, averages and word problems, with a limit of about 30 seconds per question. If you can't see the setup in that time, guess and move on, the same way you would on the test.
Learn one fast route per type. A 40% discount means you pay 60%, so multiply once instead of subtracting twice. A 5:3 ratio means 8 parts. A number sequence is differences first, then ratios. The number series page walks through the patterns that come up again and again.
Verbal questions are fast if you know the word and slow if you don't. Drill analogies, synonyms, antonyms and sentence completion. For analogies, say the relationship as a sentence ("a pilot flies a plane") before you look at the choices.
Then logic. Syllogisms ask whether a conclusion is True, False or Uncertain from the statements given. The trap is using what you know about the world. Ordering questions ("Sam finished before Jules") are faster if you write a quick chain than if you hold it in your head.
Spatial questions feel slow until you have a routine. For matrices: find the rule in one complete row, check it on a second, then eliminate choices. For rotations and mirror images: pick one distinctive corner of the shape and track only that. Don't rebuild the whole figure in your head.
If spatial is your weakest domain, it's often the cheapest place to gain, because the same few rules repeat. See the worked examples on CCAT spatial reasoning questions.
Take a second full test, under the same conditions as day 1. Compare the same three numbers. Did you reach more questions? Did the two types you drilled take less time?
If reach went up and accuracy held, your pacing works. If accuracy dropped, you sped up too much: slow down on the types you're good at, not the ones you're learning. The CCAT score calculator shows where a raw score sits against Criteria's published median, as an estimate.
No new material. Re-read the fast routes for your two weakest types. Set your pacing checkpoints with the CCAT pacing calculator, so you know where you should be at minute 5 and minute 10. Then set up for the day (below) and go to bed.
Criteria groups CCAT questions into spatial reasoning, verbal ability, and math and logicC5. We split math and logic apart because they need different habits. Here is what each covers and how to drill it.
| Domain | Question types | How to drill |
|---|---|---|
| Math | Arithmetic, percentages, ratios, fractions, averages, rates, short word problems, number sequences, tables and charts | One fast route per type; no calculator; a 30-second cap while drilling |
| Verbal | Analogies, synonyms, antonyms, sentence completion, odd one out, exact matching | Say the relationship before reading choices; skip unknown words fast |
| Logic | True, False or Uncertain statements, if-then reasoning, ordering, letter sequences, overlapping groups | Judge only from what's given; write chains, don't hold them |
| Spatial | Tile matrices, rotations, mirror images, visual sequences, odd shape out | Rule from one row, check on a second, then eliminate |
The full list, with a worked example of each, is on CCAT practice questions by type. Two examples follow, one spatial and one math, so you can see what a drill item looks like and what "fast route" means in practice.
Which tile completes the matrix? Use the same left-to-right combination rule in every row.
Answer: A
In each row, the third tile keeps cells filled in exactly one of the first two tiles. Cells filled in both disappear.
Compare occupied cells in a completed row, then verify the rule in another row.
Fast route. Look at the first complete row only. Find which cells survive into the third tile. Check that rule on the second row. Then rule out any choice that breaks it, rather than drawing the answer cell by cell. Once you know the rule exists, most matrices take well under 30 seconds.
A jacket costs $240. Its price is reduced by 40%. What is the new price?
Answer: D, 144
The discount is 40% of 240, or 96. The new price is 240 − 96 = 144.
Find 10% or 1% first. For an original amount, divide by the remaining fraction.
Fast route. A 40% discount means you pay 60%. 10% of 240 is 24, so 60% is 6 × 24 = 144. One step, no subtraction. Also notice the traps: 96 is the discount, not the price, and 336 is the price after a markup of 40%. On the CCAT, the wrong choices are often the numbers you get halfway through.
After the first one. A full test is a measurement, and measuring every day doesn't change much. Drills are where you get faster, because you repeat one type 20 times in a row and the pattern sticks.
A simple rule: take a full test when you want to know something, and drill when you want to change something.
Our CCAT time management guide covers the time budget per question type, and the pacing calculator turns a target score into per-minute checkpoints.
Two days is enough to fix the biggest problem. Not every problem.
If the test is tonight, don't try to learn new math. Do three things:
A full timed test the same day is fine if it's a few hours before the real one. Do it early, so the result informs your plan instead of your nerves.
Criteria's How to Prepare pageC2 and candidate FAQsC6 cover the logistics. What we'd add:
If you're applying to a specific employer, check what candidates report about its process on companies that use the CCAT. Some employers set their own rules on preparation. Crossover, for one, publishes guidance on which prep materials it allows; see our Crossover CCAT page before you start.
We can't promise a score, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Preparation won't make you a different thinker in a week. What it does is remove the losses that have nothing to do with ability: reading time on unfamiliar question types, slow methods for familiar ones, and the minute you spent stuck on one question while ten easier ones waited.
That is the part you control, and for most people it's a lot of points. Start with a baseline. The rest follows from what it shows you.
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Most people who prepare at all have days, not weeks. A week of 30 to 40 minutes a day is enough to take a baseline test, drill your two weakest question types and take a second test. If you only have 48 hours or one evening, use the shorter plans on this page.
Yes, in the sense that matters. Criteria says it gives every candidate the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the test, and its item bank means you will not see the same questions twice. So practice teaches you the question types and pacing, not answers.
A full timed test. It tells you whether you are losing points to pacing, speed or accuracy, and which question types cost the most. Practice those first.
Yes, two at least: one as a baseline and one after drilling, so you can see whether the drilling worked. More full tests help less than targeted drills on your weak types.
No. Criteria says no calculators are allowed on the CCAT and that none of the questions require one. Practice the way you will be tested.
Review the fast routes for your two weakest types, set your pacing checkpoints, check your device and internet, and sleep. Don't take a full test the night before if it will rattle you.
Yes. Criteria's candidate pages explain the format, our question type pages have worked examples, and your first Clever Cat Prep session, a full test or a drill, is free with one AI debrief.
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