What is the GATE test in California? How GATE testing works

In California, gifted programs are usually called GATE (Gifted and Talented Education). There is no statewide gifted test and no statewide cutoff: each district decides whether it runs GATE at all and how it picks students. This guide explains what that means for families and what the districts we have researched actually do.

Quick answers

What is the GATE test in California?

There is no single GATE test. "GATE test" means whatever ability test a district uses to screen for its Gifted and Talented Education program. In the districts we researched, that is most often the CogAT or the NNAT, and sometimes the OLSAT, Raven's matrices or the Naglieri General Ability Tests.

When do children take it?

Most often in 3rd grade, and in some districts in 2nd grade. Many districts screen the whole grade at school; others test only children who are referred.

What score do you need?

Each district sets its own cutoff. The published ones we found range from the 92nd to the 98th percentile.

Orange County and Los Angeles

• Orange County: Capistrano Unified (CUSD), Irvine and Newport-Mesa use the NNAT in 3rd grade. Tustin uses the Naglieri General Ability Tests and Los Alamitos the OLSAT, both in 3rd grade. Saddleback Valley screens every 3rd grader with the NNAT3.
• Los Angeles Unified, which includes the San Fernando Valley, uses the OLSAT-8 in 2nd grade for one GATE category and also tests referred children individually. See the LAUSD page.

No state rule, local choice

According to the California Department of Education, GATE stopped being a state categorical program in 2013–14. Its funding now flows through the Local Control Funding Formula, and each district chooses whether to run GATE and how to identify students. Some districts screen every child; some test only on request; a few have no GATE test at all. Fremont Unified, for example, stopped CogAT testing for GATE in 2020 and identifies students by professional judgment after a nomination.

Which tests California districts use

Of the 24 California districts we have researched, the tests named are:

• CogAT (7 districts). San Ramon Valley lets every second grader take it at school in the spring; a composite age percentile of 98 or above identifies a student, or 97 with a 99 on one battery. Dublin uses the 98th percentile on the full CogAT. Conejo Valley, Long Beach, Redlands, Pleasant Valley and San Mateo-Foster City also use it.
• NNAT (6 districts). Capistrano gives every 3rd grader the NNAT and identifies at the 96th percentile. Torrance uses the 95th, and Glendale the 92nd. Irvine and Newport-Mesa combine the NNAT with other measures. Saddleback Valley gives every 3rd grader the NNAT3 along with other measures.
• OLSAT (3 districts). Los Angeles Unified uses the OLSAT-8 in 2nd grade for one GATE category, alongside individual testing by a GATE psychologist. Los Alamitos screens all 3rd graders with it.
• Raven's matrices. Oxnard tests all 2nd graders with Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, and Temecula Valley gives every 3rd grader a Raven assessment.
• Naglieri General Ability Tests. Tustin screens all 3rd graders with it in the fall.

Third grade is the big year

In most of the districts we researched, universal GATE screening happens in 3rd grade: Capistrano, Glendale, Torrance, Irvine, Los Alamitos, Oak Grove, Redlands, Saddleback Valley, Temecula Valley and Tustin all screen 3rd graders, and Natomas plans to return to universal 3rd grade testing in 2027–28. A smaller group, including San Ramon Valley, Conejo Valley and Oxnard, screens in 2nd grade.

How to prepare

1. Find out your district's test and grade. Our district pages list them with sources.
2. Learn the format. For the CogAT, see the 3rd grade guide or 2nd grade guide. For the NNAT, see our NNAT practice guide; for the OLSAT, our OLSAT practice guide.
3. Keep it short. Ten to fifteen minutes a day, for a few weeks.
4. Watch for opt-out and sign-up dates. Some districts screen automatically with an opt-out; others need you to register.

Free ways to practice

• The free sample quiz has original practice questions in the style of the CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT and Naglieri tests.
• Our printables include free CogAT-style and NNAT-style packs to do on paper.
• A free readiness check shows which question types are new or harder for your child. It is a practice estimate, not a GATE result.

CogAT® is a registered trademark of Riverside Assessments, LLC. NNAT® is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. OLSAT® is a registered trademark and Naglieri General Ability Tests™ a trademark of Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS). These owners are not affiliated with and do not endorse GiftedCub. Test names are used only to describe the formats our original practice material is designed to resemble.