Most private schools in Dubai ask students to sit GL assessments each year, and many use CAT4 when a child joins. Parents then receive a report full of numbers: standard age scores, stanines, percentiles and a learning profile. This guide explains what the tests measure, how to read the scores, and what the results should and should not change.
What GL assessments are
GL Education (formerly GL Assessment) is a UK company whose tests are used by schools in the UK and internationally. In Dubai, schools use them as external benchmarks: a way to compare their students with a large international sample, track progress from year to year and spot students who need support or stretch. The three most common in Dubai schools are:
| Test | What it measures | How schools use it |
|---|---|---|
| CAT4 (Cognitive Abilities Test) | Reasoning ability, not taught knowledge | Admissions, setting, and predicting likely outcomes |
| Progress Test Series (English, maths, science) | What a student has learned in each subject against age-related expectations | Tracking progress year on year |
| PASS (Pupil Attitudes to Self and School) | Attitudes to learning and to school | Wellbeing and engagement |
The four parts of CAT4
CAT4 has four batteries, each taken as a short timed test on screen:
| Battery | What it tests |
|---|---|
| Verbal reasoning | Thinking with words: word relationships, classification and analogies |
| Quantitative reasoning | Thinking with numbers: patterns and relationships, not school arithmetic |
| Non-verbal reasoning | Thinking with shapes and patterns, without words or numbers |
| Spatial ability | Picturing and manipulating shapes in the mind |
Because CAT4 measures reasoning rather than what has been taught, it is often used to check whether a student's results match their ability, and to suggest the subjects and learning approaches that may suit them.
How to read a CAT4 report
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| Standard age score (SAS) | The main score. It compares a student with others of exactly the same age; 100 is average, and about two thirds of students score between 85 and 115 |
| Stanine | A band from 1 to 9; 4 to 6 is average, 7 to 9 above average |
| National percentile rank | The percentage of students of the same age who scored lower; a percentile of 75 means the student scored higher than 75% |
| Mean SAS | The average across the four batteries |
| Learning profile | Whether the student leans towards verbal or spatial thinking, or shows no strong bias |
The profile is often more useful than the mean. A student with strong spatial and non-verbal scores but a lower verbal score may understand ideas well but find it harder to show it in written answers, which is useful for teachers and tutors to know.
Should a child prepare for CAT4?
Familiarity helps; drilling does not. CAT4 is designed to measure reasoning rather than knowledge, and schools use it to plan teaching, so an inflated score can lead to a child being placed where they will struggle. A short look at the question types beforehand, so nothing on the day is a surprise, is enough. Progress Tests are different: they reflect learning, so steady work in class is the preparation.
What the results should change
Use the report as a starting point for a conversation with the school, not as a verdict. Ask how the scores compare with the child's classwork and school assessments, and what the school will do with them. A gap between a high CAT4 score and lower Progress Test or school results is often the most useful finding of all: it suggests a child with more ability than their marks show, and it is usually fixable.
Common questions
What is a good CAT4 score?
A standard age score of 100 is exactly average for the student's age. Scores from about 90 to 110 are in the average range, above 110 is above average and above 120 is well above average. The pattern across the four batteries matters as much as the mean.
Can you fail CAT4?
No. There is no pass mark. CAT4 describes how a student reasons compared with others of the same age.
Do Dubai schools use CAT4 for admissions?
Many do, as one part of an admissions assessment alongside reports, interviews and sometimes subject tests. Each school sets its own approach, so ask the admissions team.
Is CAT4 the same as an IQ test?
Not exactly. It measures several kinds of reasoning, scored against students of the same age, and it is designed to inform teaching rather than to label a child.
How often do students sit GL assessments?
Many Dubai schools run CAT4 and the Progress Test Series once a year, often near the start or end of the school year. Your school can tell you its schedule.
If a report shows a gap between ability and results, our academic mentorship begins with exactly that kind of diagnosis. Start the conversation here.
Official source: GL Education: CAT4. Each school decides which assessments it uses and when; check with your school.