The OLSAT pairs a verbal half with a nonverbal one, and it is the nonverbal clusters, figural and pictorial reasoning, where an unfamiliar format costs a child the most time. The samples below come from the same engine as our full practice tests. No account needed.
No account needed for these. They come from the same engine as our full practice tests.
The school ability test used for gifted admission in many districts, including historically in New York City.
Verbal comprehension and verbal reasoning. Younger levels are read aloud; older levels put more of the load on reading.
Pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning and quantitative reasoning. This is the half where format familiarity pays off most.
Matrix items where a rule runs across and another runs down, and the missing figure has to satisfy both.
Which figure belongs with the group, once you have worked out what the group has in common.
The younger-level format: the first two pictures go together, and the child finds the picture that goes with the third the same way.
The OLSAT reports a School Ability Index, a normalised score comparing a child with others of the same age, alongside percentile ranks and stanines.
| School Ability Index (SAI) | mean 100 | Age-normed, so the comparison group is children of the same age rather than the same class. |
|---|---|---|
| Reported alongside | percentile ranks and stanines | Verbal, nonverbal and total scores are reported separately. |
| Structure | verbal half and nonverbal half | The nonverbal half covers pictorial, figural and quantitative reasoning. |
| Levels | by grade, pre-K upwards | Question count and timing rise with the level. |
District thresholds differ and are revised. New York City has historically weighted the OLSAT alongside the NNAT for gifted admission, but that programme has been restructured more than once, so confirm the current rules rather than planning against an old ratio.
Published by Pearson, OLSAT 8 reports the School Ability Index. Research comparing it with the NNAT found NAI scores correlate more closely with the OLSAT nonverbal and total scores than with the verbal score, which is what you would expect from a nonverbal measure.
At pre-K and the early grades the questions are administered orally with pictures, so the test is not gated on reading. Reading load increases with level.
Unlike the NNAT, a large part of the OLSAT is verbal. Practising only figures leaves half the test unprepared, which is worth knowing before choosing where to spend time.
Published by Pearson. We are not affiliated with them, and these practice questions are our own.
The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, published by Pearson and currently in its eighth edition, measures verbal and nonverbal reasoning from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. It is widely used for gifted and talented admission and is often given alongside or instead of the NNAT.
Two halves. The verbal half covers verbal comprehension and verbal reasoning. The nonverbal half covers pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning and quantitative reasoning. Younger levels lean on pictures and are read aloud; older levels add more text and number work.
It reports a School Ability Index with a mean of 100, normed against children of the same age, along with percentile ranks and stanines. Verbal, nonverbal and total scores are reported separately, so a child can look quite different across the two halves.
There is no single answer. Each district sets its own threshold, often in the 90th percentile and above, sometimes combined with other measures. New York City has historically used its own admissions rules that have changed several times, so check the current year's criteria directly with the district rather than relying on a published cutoff.
It varies by level, generally around an hour including instructions, with the number of questions rising with grade. The exact count and timing follow the level a child sits, which is set by their grade.
The NNAT is entirely nonverbal. The OLSAT is half verbal. A child who reasons well with shapes but reads slowly will usually show stronger on the NNAT, and districts that use both, as New York City historically did, are deliberately measuring two different things.
Levels are assigned by grade, starting at pre-kindergarten. The format shifts with the level: the youngest children answer orally with pictures, and reading load increases as the levels go up.
The verbal half rewards vocabulary and comfort with analogies, both of which build slowly through reading. The nonverbal half rewards format familiarity, which builds in an afternoon. If time is short, the nonverbal half is where practice pays back fastest.
No. It is a group-administered school ability test. It reports ability relative to age peers and is used for placement decisions, but it is not an individually administered IQ assessment and should not be read as one.
Usually that reasoning is ahead of reading, which is common in younger children and in children learning English. It is worth raising with the teacher, because the two halves being far apart often explains classroom patterns that a single total score hides.
A timed test the length of the real thing, scored, with every wrong answer explained.
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