CCAT Practice Test
The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT) is a 50-question, 15-minute pre-employment test from Criteria Corp that interleaves verbal, maths-and-logic and spatial reasoning questions with no calculator allowed. Employers see your raw score and your percentile against other candidates. Fewer than 1% of people finish all 50 questions, so deciding fast on hard items matters as much as getting them right.
If an employer has sent you a CCAT invite, you are looking at 50 questions and 15 minutes, with no separate sections to pace yourself against. Verbal, maths-and-logic and spatial questions are mixed together throughout, so you cannot warm up on one type before switching to another.
According to Criteria Corp's own preparation materials, the average test-taker answers 24 of the 50 questions correctly, and fewer than 1 in 100 finish all of them. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, which changes how you should treat a question you are stuck on.
This page covers the confirmed format, five original practice questions across all three item families, and specific ways to prepare for a test built around interleaving and time pressure rather than depth. JobCannon's practice test below mirrors this format so you can rehearse the switching between item types before the real thing.
The format at a glance
- Format
- 50 multiple-choice questions in one continuous section, not split into separate timed sub-tests (source)
- Time limit
- 15 minutes for the entire test (source)
- Question types
- Three kinds of questions, interleaved rather than grouped: verbal reasoning, maths and logic, and spatial reasoning (source)
- Materials allowed
- No calculator allowed; Criteria Corp states none of the questions require one to solve (source)
- Scoring
- Employers are sent your raw score (questions answered correctly) and your percentile compared with other test-takers; there is no penalty for a wrong answer (source)
- Typical completion
- The average test-taker answers 24 of the 50 questions correctly, and fewer than 1% answer all 50 (source)
What it measures
Verbal reasoning
Analogies, sentence logic and word relationship questions check how quickly you can process language-based reasoning rather than reading comprehension in the usual sense. There is no passage to read, just a relationship to spot and apply, so the skill being tested is recognition speed rather than vocabulary depth or comprehension of a long text.
Maths and logic
This family blends arithmetic, word problems, number sequences and short deductive reasoning into one bucket, rather than treating quantitative and logical items as separate skills the way some other tests do. Criteria Corp states plainly that none of it requires a calculator, so the questions are built to be solved by estimation or a few short mental steps.
Spatial reasoning
Shape relationships, rotations and pattern completion make up the third family. These tend to be the least familiar item type for people coming from a maths or verbal-heavy background, which is often where accuracy drops fastest under time pressure, simply because the skill gets the least everyday practice outside a test setting.
Problem-solving under a mixed format
Because the three families are interleaved rather than grouped, the CCAT also tests how fast you can switch mental mode between a maths problem and a spatial one back to back. Criteria Corp describes the test as measuring your ability to problem-solve, use new information and think critically, not any single narrow skill.
Practice questions with worked answers
Written by us to mirror the published format. Work each one out before you read the explanation — the method is the part that transfers, the answer is not.
- Q1Verbal reasoning
LENIENT is to STRICT as GENEROUS is to ____
- Kind
- Wealthy
- Stingy
- Charitable
Correct answer
Stingy. The relationship is antonym pairs: lenient and strict are opposites, so the answer must be the opposite of generous. Stingy is the direct opposite; kind and charitable are close synonyms of generous, and wealthy is unrelated.
- Q2Maths and logic (word problem)
A printer produces 8 pages every 20 seconds. At that rate, how many pages does it produce in 3 minutes?
- 64
- 72
- 80
- 96
Correct answer
72. Three minutes is 180 seconds, which is nine 20-second blocks. Nine blocks times 8 pages per block equals 72. Converting minutes to seconds before dividing by the rate's time unit is the step that saves time here.
- Q3Maths and logic (deduction)
Every technician on this team holds a certification. Maria does not hold a certification. What follows?
- Maria is a new technician.
- All certified people are technicians.
- Maria works on a different team.
- Maria is not a technician on this team.
Correct answer
Maria is not a technician on this team.. If every technician on the team is certified and Maria is not certified, Maria cannot be a technician on the team. This is the contrapositive of the original rule, and it is the only conclusion the premises force.
- Q4Maths and logic (number series)
Complete the sequence: 2, 6, 18, 54, ____
- 108
- 150
- 162
- 216
Correct answer
162. Each term is multiplied by 3 to reach the next: 2 times 3 is 6, 6 times 3 is 18, 18 times 3 is 54, and 54 times 3 is 162. Checking the ratio between consecutive terms is faster than checking the difference on this type of sequence.
- Q5Spatial reasoning
A sequence of shapes each gains one side on the previous shape: triangle, square, pentagon, ____?
- Hexagon
- Heptagon
- Octagon
- Rhombus
Correct answer
Hexagon. Triangle has 3 sides, square has 4, pentagon has 5, so the pattern of adding one side each step means the next shape has 6 sides, which is a hexagon. Rhombus is a 4-sided shape and breaks the increasing pattern.
How scores are read
Below the average raw score
Criteria Corp states the average test-taker answers 24 of 50 correctly, so a score noticeably below that puts you below the typical test-taker. Whether that matters depends entirely on the role-specific benchmark the employer set, which is not published.
Around the average raw score
Landing near 24 correct puts you in line with the typical CCAT-taker. Many roles benchmark somewhere close to this range, though Criteria Corp sets a separate norm group per role rather than one fixed target.
Above the average raw score
A raw score meaningfully above 24 is stronger than most test-takers achieve. This tends to matter most for roles with analytically demanding benchmarks, where employers are screening specifically for that.
Any raw score
Your raw score is converted to a percentile against a norm group Criteria Corp selects for the specific role, so the same raw score can land at very different percentiles for two different jobs. Published cut-offs vary by employer, not by a fixed CCAT scale.
Try the free JobCannon Cognitive Ability Test
Not the real thing — an independent test in a similar family, scored instantly, with a report you keep. Good for finding out where you actually stand before the employer’s version.
Start the free test32 questions · 7 min · No signup to start
How to prepare
Practise all three item types mixed together
The real test interleaves verbal, maths-and-logic and spatial questions rather than grouping them, so practising them in blocks builds a false sense of rhythm you will not get on test day. Mix your practice sets the same way the real test does, switching type every question.
Rebuild mental arithmetic specifically
Criteria Corp states no calculator is allowed and none of the questions require one, so spend a dedicated session on percentages, ratios and multi-step word problems done entirely by hand or in your head, without letting yourself reach for a phone or spreadsheet.
Guess and move on when stuck
There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so a blank question is strictly worse than a guessed one. Set yourself a rule, such as 20 seconds per question, and if you are past it without a clear route to an answer, pick your best option and continue.
Give spatial reasoning extra practice time
If your background is verbal or maths-heavy, spatial questions are usually the least familiar and the first place accuracy drops under pressure. A disproportionate share of your prep time spent here tends to pay off more than adding more verbal practice on top of what you already do well.
Run a full 15-minute mock at least once
Since fewer than 1% of people finish all 50 questions, your real goal is maximising correct answers in the time you have, not finishing the set. A full timed run shows you where your pace actually breaks down, rather than where you assume it does.
Read the instructions screen slowly before starting
The interleaved format and lack of section breaks can be disorienting the first time you see it live, especially under time pressure. Knowing exactly how the interface moves between question types before the clock starts saves seconds you cannot get back mid-test.
Treat the day before as recovery, not cramming
A 15-minute, high-switching test rewards a fast, alert brain more than last-minute content review the night before it. Sleep and a calm morning routine will move your score more than an extra hour of practice questions squeezed in late, when you are already tired and less able to absorb anything new.
The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test has 50 multiple-choice questions and a 15-minute time limit for the whole test, mixing verbal, maths-and-logic and spatial reasoning questions rather than grouping them into separate timed sections you could pace individually, one at a time.
No. Criteria Corp's own preparation page states plainly that there is no penalty for a wrong answer, so guessing on a question you cannot solve in time is always better than leaving it blank and getting nothing for it at all.
No. Calculators are not allowed, and Criteria Corp states none of the questions require one to solve, so every maths item on the test is designed to be worked out mentally or with a quick estimate rather than exact arithmetic.
There is no single published cut-off. Criteria Corp reports a raw score and a percentile against a norm group chosen per role, and the average test-taker answers 24 of 50 questions correctly, but the bar an employer actually sets varies by job.
Because it is built that way. Criteria Corp states fewer than 1% of candidates finish all 50 questions in the 15 minutes given, so the test is designed to measure how much accurate work you produce under real time pressure, not whether you finish it.
No. JobCannon's practice test is free, unaffiliated with Criteria Corp, and written from scratch to mirror the published format so you can rehearse the pace and the mix of item types. It does not predict your actual CCAT score or count as a real attempt.
Both are short, timed, mixed-content cognitive tests, but the CCAT runs 50 questions in 15 minutes across three named families, while the Wonderlic runs 50 questions in 12 minutes with a weighted scoring model. The formats are close cousins, not the same test.
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Explore related content
JobCannon is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Criteria Corp. The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test and CCAT are trademarks of their respective owner, and the practice questions on this page are original, written to mirror the published format rather than copies of real test items.