CCAT scores explained

The CCAT in brief

Criteria describes the CCAT like this (Criteria):

• 50 questions in 15 minutes. You answer as many as you can in the time.
• Three kinds of question: verbal, math and logic, and spatial reasoning.
• No calculators allowed.
• No penalty for wrong answers.

Criteria's information brief adds that the test can be taken on any device, including a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop, and that it is popular for mid- to senior-level roles such as managers, sales executives, software developers, executive assistants and analysts (CCAT information brief).

Raw score

Your raw score is "the number of questions you get right" (Criteria). It runs from 0 to 50. A blank and a wrong answer both score zero, which is why Criteria's note that there is no penalty for wrong answers matters: an informed guess can only help.

Criteria says "the average test taker only gets 24 questions right". So a raw score in the low to mid 20s is close to typical, not a failure. Seeing the number 24 out of 50 for the first time can feel low if you are used to school tests, where 48% would be a poor mark. The CCAT is built so that almost nobody gets near 50.

Percentile and the norm group

The percentile shows "how you did compared to everyone else who's taken the test" (Criteria). Criteria's score report guide says the percentile ranks the candidate against its "global norming group" (score report guide).

A percentile is not a percentage of questions correct. A 70th percentile means you scored higher than 70% of the comparison group.

Criteria's own sample score report shows how the two numbers relate: a candidate with a raw score of 24 is shown at the 50th percentile, "meaning [they] scored better than 50% of the people who have taken this test" (CCAT overview). That lines up with Criteria's statement that the average test taker gets 24 right.

The score report guide also shows a graph of the distribution of raw scores, with most scores near the middle and fewer at the high and low ends, and the candidate's score marked on it.

The three sub-scores

The report breaks your result into three skills, each with its own percentile ranking (score report guide):

• Spatial reasoning: visualizing objects, making spatial judgments and solving object and pattern questions.
• Verbal ability: reading comprehension, logic and attention to detail, through sentence completion, vocabulary and word comparison questions.
• Math and logic: problem solving, arithmetic, logic and numerical reasoning.

The sub-scores tell an employer where your strengths are. They also tell you where to focus practice: if you take a practice test and one section lags, that is where an hour of work pays back most.

Suggested score ranges by job family

Criteria gives employers suggested raw score ranges for different job families. According to Criteria, these ranges come from large samples of prior scores of people applying for or working in similar roles, and are supported by validation studies (CCAT information brief). The score report guide says they are calculated from the results of over 700,000 CCAT assessments (score report guide).

The information brief lists dozens of job families, including accounting, analyst, customer service representative, engineering, human resources, nursing, office and administrative support, project manager, retail sales, sales representative and software development.

The employer can associate a job family with the test before you take it. The report then shows a shaded box for the suggested range and states whether you scored within, above or below it. In the score report guide's worked example, the Management family has a suggested range of 20 to 50, and a candidate with a raw score of 24 falls inside it. Criteria's brief also says employers can build their own score ranges from their own staff or applicant data.

The ranges in the documents are illustrations of how the report works. Criteria does not publish a list of every employer's target, and websites that list "passing CCAT scores" for named companies are guessing.

What is a good CCAT score?

There is no single good CCAT score. A good score is one that falls within, or above, the range the employer has set for the job. From Criteria's published material, three reference points are fair to use:

• 24 correct is average. Criteria says the average test taker gets 24 questions right.
• The 50th percentile is the middle of Criteria's global norming group, and in Criteria's sample report it corresponds to a raw score of 24.
• Ranges vary by job family. A role with complex problem solving may have a higher suggested range than a role with routine tasks.

If you are unsure what the employer expects, you will rarely get a number, but you can ask the recruiter how the result is used. Most employers use the CCAT alongside your application and interviews, not as the only factor.

Why almost nobody finishes

Criteria says fewer than 1% of candidates answer all 50 questions (Criteria). At 15 minutes for 50 questions you have about 18 seconds each, and the test mixes quick vocabulary items with spatial and word problems that take longer.

Leaving the last few questions unanswered is normal. What costs points is rushing the early questions and making mistakes, or spending a minute on one hard item. Since Criteria says there is no penalty for wrong answers, never leave a question you have read without choosing an answer: make your best guess and move on.

About invalid results

Criteria's score report guide describes an "Invalid Result" flag. It says the system can detect when a candidate has taken a particular version of the CCAT before, based on the speed and accuracy of their responses: moving through the test too quickly and without error is labeled as familiarity with the test (score report guide).

This is one more reason to prepare with original practice questions in a similar format, as ours are, rather than looking for copies of real test items. Learn the question types and the pace; do not try to memorize answers.

How to raise your score

• Practice at 18 seconds a question. Our CCAT-style practice test runs at the same pace.
• Do not get stuck. If a question has not opened up in about 30 seconds, choose your best answer and move on. One hard question should not cost you three easy ones.
• Answer every question you see. There is no penalty for wrong answers, according to Criteria.
• Work on your weakest of the three skills. Spatial questions feel strange at first and usually improve quickly with practice; see our spatial reasoning test.
• Mental math without a calculator. Percentages, fractions, ratios and rates. See our guides to percentage questions, ratio questions, speed, distance and time and number series.
• Practice short logic items. Ordering and "which must be true" questions repay a little study; see syllogisms.
• Take full timed mocks to build focus for the whole 15 minutes.