Dubai school entrance assessments and the CAT4 test

Most private schools in Dubai set some form of entrance assessment. How hard it is depends on two things — the child’s age and the standard of the school. The point of understanding what is being tested is not to coach your child for it, but to choose the right schools to apply to.

Selective and non-selective schools

Selective schools set real exams, and the bar rises with each year group. Non-selective schools take children with weak English, and sometimes with none at all. There are also schools in between, with a formal assessment that places a child rather than filters them out.

A common strategy after a move: start at a non-selective school where the child catches up on English, then sit the assessment for a more selective school a year or two later. That is a normal route, not a defeat.

At three

At this age the assessment is a play-based interview. What the school mainly looks at is whether the child can follow simple instructions from a teacher and how ready they are to be part of a group. The strongest schools in the city may already expect basic English at three — numbers, colours, animal names. That is exactly why FS1 or Pre-KG is the easiest point of entry into a strong school.

Older children and CAT4

From then on, the tasks reflect what a child of that age should know by the standards of the particular school. The aim is to gauge current knowledge and estimate potential. Many schools use CAT4 — the Cognitive Abilities Test. It measures reasoning rather than learned material and has four sections:

• Verbal Reasoning — command of language, word associations, letter-based tasks;
• Non-Verbal Reasoning — critical thinking, problems with shapes and patterns;
• Quantitative Reasoning — mathematical thinking and number problems;
• Spatial Reasoning — visualising, building and rotating 3D shapes.

For a child who has not been taught in English, Verbal Reasoning will almost always be the weakest section — and schools know it. The other three depend less on language and give a fairer picture of potential. It is worth looking at sample questions and the test format in advance, so that the format itself is not a surprise.

How the assessment runs

Once the registration fee (AED 525) is paid, the school sets a date. Many schools now hold assessments and interviews online, which helps if you have not yet moved. A decision usually arrives in about a week. The full sequence is in Getting into a Dubai school.

What parents most need to understand

The tests exist above all to place a child in a school that matches their level. Changing school is stressful enough. It is doubly stressful when the child’s level is well below the class average at the new school. So a rejection from a selective school is not a verdict but a signal: for now, your child will do better where they sit in the middle of the class rather than at the bottom.

If English is the main hurdle, start with A child with no English at a Dubai school.

The full “Schools in Dubai” series

• Schools in Dubai: how the system works
• KHDA school ratings in Dubai: how to read them
• Getting into a Dubai school: the five steps
• School documents in the UAE: attestation and the transfer certificate
• Dubai school fees and how to pay less
• The school day in Dubai and the costs on top of fees
• The Dubai school year, holidays and starting age
• British, American or IB: choosing a curriculum in Dubai
• IB Diploma vs A-levels: what each gives a school leaver
• British schools in Dubai: twelve strong options
• American schools in Dubai
• IB schools in Dubai: seven international-curriculum schools
• The Dubai school tour: what to ask and what to watch for
• A child with no English at a Dubai school
• School first, home second: where to live near a Dubai school