ccat test

The CCAT in 2026: Format, Scoring and How to Prepare

·3 min read

The short answer

The CCAT (Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test) is 50 multiple-choice questions in 15 minutes, about 18 seconds each, covering verbal, maths and logic, and spatial reasoning. Almost nobody finishes: Criteria says fewer than 1% answer all 50, and the average is 24 correct. Employers see your raw score and a percentile against their own target for the role.

  • No calculator. It works on a phone, tablet or computer.
  • Your result can be reused by other employers using Criteria for up to 12 months, unless the test was proctored.
  • Some employers ask finalists to repeat it under live proctoring.
  • There is no published pass mark: each employer sets its own range by role.
Practise the role-specific stage too →Read the full article ↓

Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs practice job simulations for your role. It isn’t a CCAT practice test; Criteria’s own prep page is the place for that.

The CCAT is Criteria Corp's general aptitude test, and it is designed to be hard to finish. That changes how you should approach it: the goal is not to answer everything, it is to answer as many as you can correctly in the time.

What the CCAT measures

Criteria describes it as a test of problem solving, learning ability and critical thinking. It does that with three kinds of question, mixed together:

  • Verbal: synonyms and antonyms, analogies, and completing sentences.
  • Maths and logic: word problems, number series and simple reasoning puzzles.
  • Spatial: rotating shapes in your head and spotting the odd one out.

The format

  • 50 multiple-choice questions in 15 minutes, which is about 18 seconds each.
  • No calculator, and no paper aids unless the employer says otherwise.
  • Any device: phone, tablet or computer. A computer with a mouse is easier for the spatial questions.
  • Not adaptive: Criteria doesn't describe it as one, so every question counts the same whatever came before.

The numbers that matter most: according to Criteria, fewer than 1% of people answer all 50 questions, and the average is 24 correct. Getting halfway through accurately is a normal result.

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What employers see

The employer sees your raw score out of 50 and a percentile, which compares you with others who have taken it. They compare that with a target range for the job. Criteria suggests ranges for 42 families of roles, and employers can set their own, but neither is published. So be wary of any "score you need for a job": it is either a guess or one employer's choice.

Proctoring and retakes

  • Proctoring is optional and set by the employer. When it is on, it can use your webcam, microphone and screen sharing.
  • Results can travel. By default, an employer that uses Criteria can reuse your result for the same test from the past 12 months, so a new application may not mean a new test. Proctored results are the exception and aren't reused.
  • Waiting periods. Employers can stop you reapplying for one to twelve months.
  • A second, supervised sitting. Some employers ask finalists to repeat the CCAT under live proctoring before an offer. Crossover, for example, calls this the PCCAT, bans calculators and translation tools during it, and asks candidates to wait six months before retaking.

How to prepare

Start with Criteria's own prep page. It explains the question types and has practice questions in the same style. Do them under a timer.

Learn your pace. At 18 seconds a question, you need a rule for when to move on. A common one: if you can't see how to start a question within a few seconds, guess and go. Easy questions are worth exactly as much as hard ones.

Don't leave blanks. Your raw score counts the questions you got right, so a guess can only help. If you are running out of time, answer what's left.

Warm up the arithmetic. Percentages, fractions, ratios and simple equations come up again and again, and without a calculator speed comes from practice.

Practise rotation puzzles if they're new to you. Spatial questions feel strange the first time and become much faster after a few dozen.

Sit it once, properly. Because results can be reused for a year, a rushed attempt on a phone in a noisy room can follow you to other applications. Take it on a computer, somewhere quiet, when you have the full 15 minutes.

  • UCAT (Universal Cognitive Aptitude Test): 40 questions in 20 minutes, with no verbal section, so it suits people taking it outside their first language. It is available in about 20 languages. Not to be confused with the UK medical-school UCAT, which is unrelated.
  • Cognify: a game-based alternative of three short games, about 10 to 15 minutes in total, giving a percentile and three sub-scores.

Where the CCAT fits

The CCAT is usually an early screen. Employers who use it well treat it as one input, alongside interviews and, increasingly, a task that resembles the job. Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs practice job simulations for that later stage, with a report on where you lost marks. It won't train you for the CCAT itself; the official prep page will.

Sources

Checked 2 October 2026.

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