We are working closely with Sharjah Education Council to support schools in meeting the requirements set out to support National Agenda Targets. As part of this support, schools are required to complete our CAT4 tests with their students in order to gain a benchmark of ability. This page is intended to support you to successfully complete testing with your students, so please take a look at the information below, and do not hesitate to get in touch with us if there is anything further you need.

For a printable version of the information below, please download our guidance document here

Deadline to Complete CAT4 Testing: 24^th January 2019*

*For schools that have already commenced CAT4 testing for the required Grades/Year groups, please be advised that we will extract all results of testing completed since the beginning of the academic year for the purposes of reporting to SEC.

There are two versions of CAT4 available (digital only):

1. CAT4 UK edition: All schools should use this, with the exception of Indian schools
2. CAT4 Indian/CBSE edition: Suitable for all schools following a CBSE curriculum

Please refer to our FAQs for further information about criteria and what is included in your subscription 

Please email international@gl-education.com with your requirements.

It is essential that the data you enter is accurate, and meets the requirements of SEC for analysis purposes. You can also use this opportunity to also include further information about your students, making deeper analysis of results much easier.

Student Data Requirements

1. ‘Nationality’ of students must be recorded in ‘Ethnic Group’ field.
2. ‘Emirati’ or ‘Other’, based on nationality, must be recorded in ‘Custom 2’ field

Please refer to our guidance below for more information

• Check Technical Minimum System Requirements before starting testing
• Webinar: Updating student records for new academic year
• Student Upload Guide
• Testwise Help
• Testwise Printable Guide 
  • English
  • Arabic

If you don’t already have a Testwise account, your login details will be provided to you upon ordering your tests.

Translated practice questions and instructions are now available as standard in the digital CAT4 tests. Please find more information about these below:

https://www.gl-education.com/media/319820/cat4-instructions-and-practice-questions-in-arabic.pdf

Please contact international@gl-education.com for other translations available to accompany the digital tests in PDF documents.

For more information about how CAT4 data is being used by schools, please take a look at the recorded webinars below: 

• CAT4 and PASS : Asking the right questions at the American International School in Abu Dhabi
• St George’s British International School

Matthew Savage Student Data Case Studies

In these short student case studies, Matthew shows how he was able to use the combination of data from the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4), the Progress Test Series and the Pupil Attitudes to Self and School survey to build a comprehensive picture of each student and identify their specific learning and wellbeing support needs.

Support for EAL Students 

Three of the four batteries are non-language specific, therefore results for these will not be affected, although EAL students may struggle with the verbal reasoning battery.

Results data will provide insights into your students’ cognitive abilities, as well as indicators of future attainment, however for EAL students, the results of the verbal reasoning battery may not be as helpful. Focus should fall on the results of the non-verbal, quantitative and spatial reasoning batteries of the assessment.

We use CAT4 for admissions, how will this affect our data?

Where students tested do not join the school, ensure you are actively archiving these records in Testwise. Where students tested do go on to join the school, ensure you are actively updating Testwise student records with their Unique Identifier upon admission to the school.

CAT4 is not suitable or helpful for some of our SEN students

Officially, all students are eligible for the tests.

Please contact SEC directly for advice regarding these particular students.

How do we administer the digital tests? 

CAT4 will take approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes to deliver, although students can sit the test in three parts spread over different periods if needed. 

Please refer to our guide for full instructions:

gl-education.com/media/169523/cat4-digital-admin.pdf

What are CAT4 Combination Reports?

The CAT4 Combination report takes data on pupil ability from the CAT4 and on attainment from the Progress Test in Maths (PTM) and Progress Test in English (PTE). It can also include data on reading from the New Group Reading Test (NGRT), as an alternative to Progress Test in English. A number of test combinations are possible, but CAT4 is always present, acting as an ‘anchor’ for the report. You will be provided with an ‘all round view’ of each pupil and an assessment model that:

• Compares ability levels against current attainment to identify under-achievers and the factors influencing this
• Identifies barriers to learning and informs intervention strategies at the earliest opportunity
• Delivers the all-important national benchmark

A sample report can be found here.

Instructions for how to run a Combination Report can be found here. 

How do I get in touch with SEC?

Contact details to be confirmed

24^th January 2019 – CAT Testing window ends

March 2019 – CAT4 Reporting to support inspections released

Support hours (BST)

Sunday 5.30 am – 12.30 pm
Mon – Fri 5.30 am – 5 pm

+44 (0)330 123 5375
support@gl-assessment.co.uk