CogAT 5th grade practice test: sample questions and how to prepare

Fifth grade is a common testing year for a different reason than the early grades: some districts screen again before middle school, and some programs that start in 6th grade test in 5th. The CogAT at this age is a timed reading-and-numbers test, and the questions are the hardest your child has seen on it so far. This guide explains what to expect and how to practice in a way a ten-year-old will actually stick with.

Which districts test in 5th grade

Of the 192 school districts we have researched in depth, 40 list the CogAT for 5th grade and 7 give it to every 5th grader. Examples include Northside ISD, TX, which tests all 2nd and 5th graders; Plano ISD, TX, which tests all students in grades 1, 3, 5 and 7; and Harnett County, NC, which screens 3rd and 5th graders each spring. Look up your own district on our district pages.

What the 5th grade CogAT looks like

According to Riverside, the publisher, from Level 9 upward children read the questions, every subtest is timed at 10 minutes, and all questions are multiple choice. Riverside groups Levels 9 to 17/18 together for grades 3 to 12; prep sites and district pages usually pair 5th grade with Level 11.

Verbal battery

• Verbal analogies. Two words go together in some way. Your child picks the word that goes with a third word in the same way.
• 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. Your child picks the word that belongs in the same group.

Quantitative battery

• Number analogies. Strings of number pairs follow one rule. Your child applies it to a new number.
• Number puzzles. Each equation has missing parts. Your child substitutes the given numbers and solves it.
• Number series. A row of numbers follows a pattern, and your child picks what comes next.

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 5th grade CogAT page shows an example of each.

A six-week plan

Weeks 1–2: learn the formats. Go through a few examples of each type together. Ask your child to explain each answer to you; teaching it back is the fastest way to learn it.

Weeks 3–4: mixed practice and a tracker. Do short mixed sets and keep a simple chart of which types cause misses. Ten-year-olds like seeing a number go up.

Week 5: timed sets. Practice a few sets the length of a subtest with a 10 minute timer, aiming for steady work rather than speed.

Week 6: light review. A couple of easy sessions, no new material, normal sleep.

Tips for each part

Verbal. Make an exact sentence for the first pair ("A sculptor shapes clay") and apply it to the third word. If two answers fit, make the sentence more precise. For classification, find the narrowest group all three share. Wide reading builds the vocabulary these questions use.

Quantitative. Write the rule down and test it on every pair. For number series, write the change between neighbors; if that doesn't work, look for multiplying, or two patterns taking turns. For number puzzles, substitute and solve step by step, then check the answer in the original equation.

Nonverbal. Name every change (shape, shading, size, number, direction) and check rows and columns. For paper folding, practice with real paper and a hole punch or pencil, then try to predict before unfolding.

Timing. Ten minutes per subtest goes quickly. Practice the habit of a best guess and moving on rather than getting stuck on one question.

What not to do

• Don't drill the same questions. Memorized answers do not carry over to new questions.
• Don't cram the night before. It adds stress when your child needs to be rested.
• Don't make the score the goal. Talk about strategies, not results.
• Don't skip sleep and breakfast before test day. See our test-day checklist.

Free ways to practice

• The free sample quiz shows CogAT®-style questions for 5th grade.
• Our printables include a free CogAT-style 5th grade pack to do on paper.
• 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

Read CogAT scores explained to understand the report, including what a good score is in 5th grade, 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.