CogAT 3rd grade practice test: sample questions and how to prepare

Third grade is the year the CogAT changes the most. Up to 2nd grade every question is a picture and nothing is timed. From 3rd grade your child reads words and numbers, and each part has a clock. Some districts screen every 3rd grader for gifted programs, and for many children this is the first time a child meets the "grown-up" version of the test. This guide explains what is different and how to get ready.

Which districts test in 3rd grade

Not every district tests 3rd graders, so check yours first. Of the 192 school districts we have researched in depth, 84 name the CogAT in their gifted plan. Forty-eight of them use it in 3rd grade, and 16 give it to every 3rd grader. Examples include Howard County, MD, Prince William County, VA, Plano ISD, TX and Naperville 203, IL. Look up your own district on our district pages.

What changes from 2nd grade

According to Riverside, the publisher, the primary levels (kindergarten to 2nd grade) use only pictures, and the teacher reads one subtest aloud. From Level 9, the 3rd grade level, three things change:

• Your child reads. The verbal questions use written words, and the quantitative questions use written numbers.
• Each subtest is timed. Every one of the nine subtests has 10 minutes.
• Some questions look different. Number series move from beads to numbers. Number puzzles use equations. Paper folding uses punched holes instead of cuts.

A child who did well on picture questions in 2nd grade can still be thrown by a page of words and a timer. That is why practice in 3rd grade is mostly about the formats, not about learning new material.

The nine question types at Level 9

Verbal battery

• Verbal analogies. Two words go together in some way, such as puppy : dog. Your child picks the word that goes with a third word in the same way: kitten : cat.
• Sentence completion. Your child reads a sentence with a missing word and picks the word that fits best.
• Verbal classification. Three words are alike in some way, such as oak, maple, pine. Your child picks the word that belongs in the same group: birch, not flower.

Quantitative battery

• Number analogies. Two pairs of numbers follow the same rule, such as 3 → 6 and 5 → 10. Your child applies the rule to a third number. Some are written in a row and some in a small grid.
• Number puzzles. Short equations with a missing number. In some, a shape stands for a number and your child puts that number in to solve it.
• Number series. A row of numbers follows a pattern, and your child picks what comes next. A few still show strings of beads with numbers under them.

Nonverbal battery

• Figure matrices. A 2×2 grid of shapes has one empty box. The change across the top row happens again on the bottom row.
• Figure classification. Three figures are alike. Your child picks the figure that is alike in the same way.
• Paper folding. A piece of paper is folded, holes are punched through it, and your child picks how it looks unfolded.

Our 3rd grade CogAT page shows an example of each.

A six-week plan

Weeks 1–2: meet the new question types. Start with the three verbal types and number puzzles, because they look the most different from 2nd grade. Do a few examples of each together, out loud. No timer yet.

Weeks 3–4: mix them up. Do short sets that mix all nine types. Notice which ones slow your child down and spend a little more time there. Paper folding and verbal analogies are worth extra practice with real paper and real conversations.

Week 5: add gentle timing. Try one set the length of a subtest with a kitchen timer. The aim is not speed. It is learning not to get stuck: make a best guess on a hard question and keep going.

Week 6: keep it light. A few easy sessions to stay familiar. Stop adding new material, and keep bedtime normal.

If the test is sooner, shorten each phase. Even two weeks of short practice helps a child recognize the formats.

Tips for each part

Verbal. For analogies, make a sentence for the first pair: "A puppy is a young dog." Then use the same sentence with the third word. If two answers seem to fit, make the sentence more exact. For classification, name the group as exactly as you can: "trees", not just "plants". Reading together every day helps more than vocabulary lists, because the questions use everyday words in exact ways.

Quantitative. For number analogies, say the rule out loud: "add 3" or "double it". Then check it works for both pairs before using it. For number series, write the change between each pair of numbers underneath; the pattern is often in the changes. For number puzzles, put the given number in place of the shape and work it out step by step.

Nonverbal. Name exactly what changes: shape, shading, size, number or direction. Check the answer against both the row and the column. For paper folding, fold a sheet, punch a hole with a pencil, and open it. Each hole appears again, mirrored across every fold.

Timing. Ten minutes goes fast for an eight-year-old. Teach one simple rule: if a question takes too long, pick your best guess and move on.

What not to do

• Don't drill the same questions. Memorized answers do not carry over to new questions. Variety does.
• Don't start with the timer. Speed comes from knowing the formats. Timing too early just makes children anxious.
• Don't talk about the score. Talk about thinking. Children who feel the test is a big deal tend to rush.
• Don't skip sleep and breakfast before test day. They matter more than one more practice session. See our test-day checklist.

Free ways to practice

• The free sample quiz shows CogAT®-style questions for 3rd grade.
• Our printables include a free CogAT-style 3rd grade pack to do on paper.
• Our puzzle activities build the same skills with things you already have at home.
• A free readiness check takes about 20 minutes and shows which question types are new or harder for your child. It is a practice estimate, not a CogAT score.

After the test

The report shows a score for each battery and an overall composite, shown as Standard Age Scores and percentile ranks. Read CogAT scores explained to understand what the numbers mean, and check your district page for the score it uses.

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.