Choosing a test type and level UK

CAT4 comes in two formats: CAT4 (paper version, UK only) and CAT4 Digital.

Please note that Level Y is available in paper form only, and unavailable outside the UK.

CAT4 Digital

To administer CAT4 Digital, you only need to buy one credit for each student you would like to test, at the chosen level.

Customer services will set new customers up with an account on Testwise, our online testing platform. (Find out more about setting up a Testwise account.)

Full details of how to administer the digital version of CAT4 can be found in the Teacher Guide and the Crib Sheet for Digital test.

*Optional

Trialling CAT4 before buying

If you would like to review CAT4 before purchasing, we offer a free trial test where you can see real reports generated from your own selected students.

To find out more about our evaluation packs, please contact us.

CAT4 Paper

To administer CAT4 using the paper format, you will need the following items for the chosen level:

• Student booklets: where students read the questions.
• Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) answer sheets: where students mark their answers.
• Scoring service: Group Header Sheet (included in answer sheet packs) for each test group.

Answer sheets and Group Header Sheet are submitted to GL Assessment for the computerised scoring service.

Schools have the option of purchasing our overprinting service, which delivers answer sheets pre-printed with students' information, to save time during administration and the scoring process.

*Optional

CAT4 has 10 available levels in the UK. The levels are aimed at different age groups and the test content of each level is developed in an overlapping format of progression difficulty. 

The target year group and age range covered by the norms for each test level are shown in the tables below.

Please see ‘How do I choose a test level’ in the Teacher Guidance in Downloads for more information.

 

UK - Recommended year groups

Age range covered by norms	CAT4 level	England & Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Ireland	Age of year group
6:00 – 7:11	X	Y2	P3	Y3 (P3)	1st class	6-7
7:01 – 8:11	Y*	Y3	P4	Y3 (P3)	2nd class	7-8
6:06 – 8:11	Pre-A	Y3	P4	Y3 (P3)	2nd class	7-8
7:06 – 9:11	A	Y4	P5	Y4** & Y5 (P4) & (P5)	3rd class	8-9
8:06 – 10:11	B	Y5	P6	Y6 (P6)	4th class	9-10
9:06 – 11:11	C	Y6	P7	Y7 (P7)	5th class	10-11
10:06 – 12:11	D	Y7	S1	Y8 (F1)	End of 5th class/6th class	11-12
11:06 – 13:11	E	Y8	S2	Y9 (F2)	End of 6th class/1st Year	12-13
12:06 – 15:11	F	Y9 & Y10	S3 & S4	Y10 & Y11 (F3 & F4)	2nd and 3rd Year	13-15
14:06 – 17:00 +	G	Y11+	S5 &S6	Y12+ (F5+)	4th/TY/5th Year	15+

*CAT4 Level Y is available in paper format only

** Primary schools in Northern Ireland typically use Level A in P4, when all pupils are at least 7 years and 6 months of age

 

Exceptions to recommended year groups

In certain situations, a school may choose to use a lower or higher level of CAT4 than recommended in the table. Some examples are:

• A school that tests students before they transition to their next school, where the next level up may be more appropriate. 
• A selective school that tests a year group composed of highly able students, where the next level up may be used. Or a non-selective school in a selective area, where the next level down may be appropriate.

Such cases are the exception rather than the rule. On the rare occasion when individual students fall outside the age range, their scores will be based on the upper or lower end of the age range of the level of CAT4 they have taken. So, a student taking CAT4 Level B who is 11:06 will receive scores based on the upper age limit of 10:11.