CogAT Screening Form: What It Is and How to Prepare
The CogAT Screening Form, often called the CogAT screener, is a short version of the Cognitive Abilities Test that schools use to screen all students in a grade. If your child’s school uses it, the CogAT PrepPack for your child’s grade already covers every subtest the Screening Form includes.
What Is the CogAT Screening Form?
The CogAT Screening Form is a shorter version of the CogAT. Instead of the nine subtests of the full test, it has three, one from each battery:
- Figure matrices
Together, these three subtests give one score that estimates general reasoning ability. The Screening Form does not report separate Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal scores. In kindergarten to 2nd grade (Levels 5/6 to 8), all three subtests use pictures. From 3rd grade up, only the verbal analogies use words.
How Do Schools Use the CogAT Screening Form?
Many districts give the Screening Form to every student in a grade, a practice called universal screening. It works as a first filter. Students who do well are usually considered further, often with a shortened or complete CogAT, and the district’s own gifted program rules decide what happens next. Passing the screener does not by itself place a student in a gifted program. To learn more about the full test, see What is the CogAT.
Do CogAT PrepPacks Cover the Screening Form?
Yes. The three Screening Form subtests use the same question types as the matching subtests in the full CogAT, and every CogAT PrepPack gives practice across all three batteries. The PrepPack for your child’s grade therefore covers all of the Screening Form material, plus the other six subtests a school may use afterwards.
| Screening Form subtest | Battery | See examples |
|---|---|---|
| Picture or Verbal Analogies | Verbal | CogAT Verbal Battery |
| Number Analogies | Quantitative | CogAT Quantitative Battery |
| Figure Matrices | Nonverbal | CogAT Nonverbal Battery |
Choose the PrepPack for your child’s level on our CogAT PrepPacks page, or start with our free CogAT sample questions.
FAQs: CogAT Screening Form
No. The Screening Form is a shorter version with three subtests, one from each battery, while the full CogAT has nine. It gives one overall reasoning score instead of separate Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal scores. Schools often use it to decide which students to look at more closely.
Not by itself. Schools use the screener as a first filter, and students who do well are usually considered further, often with a shortened or complete CogAT. The final decision depends on the district’s program rules.
Practice the three question types it uses: analogies with pictures or words, number analogies, and figure matrices. Every CogAT PrepPack gives practice across all three batteries, so the PrepPack for your child’s grade covers the Screening Form material. Our free sample questions are a good place to start.
