Cognitive Ability Test Study Plan: What to Study by Days Left

Information last checked: 20 October 2026. The numbers in this plan come from the Cognitive Ability Test page on the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) website and may change, so check it before your test. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with ETEC, the National Center for Assessment (Qiyas) or any government body, and it does not guarantee any score.

This test has no pass mark: ETEC says scores do not mean pass or fail; they are a basis for comparing applicants. So the goal of this plan is not to clear a minimum but to raise your score in all four abilities as far as you can, starting with the ability that carries the most questions. What each ability covers and its question types are in the test content guide, and the registration steps and fees are in the registration guide.

The numbers your plan is built on

The abilities in order of weight

Your study order follows the weight of each ability:

1. Quantitative Ability: 35% (about 35 questions). The largest weight in the test. Common question types: arithmetic and word problems; ratio, proportion, percentages and fractions; number series; and interpreting charts and tables.
2. Verbal Ability: 30% (about 30 questions). Synonyms, antonyms, sentence completion, verbal analogies and word relations, and reading comprehension.
3. Reasoning Ability: 20% (about 20 questions). Syllogisms and conditional statements, ordering and comparison, drawing conclusions from statements and situations, and inductive reasoning with symbols, coding and patterns.
4. Spatial Ability: 15% (about 15 questions). Folding nets and visualising solids, figure series and rotation, and matching, mirror images and completing figures.

The weights come from ETEC's page. The question types within each ability are the types seen in past questions.

Where many candidates lose marks

These mistakes come up again and again in each ability, and the study notes in the practice area explain them in detail. Review them at every stage of the plan:

• Quantitative: a 20% discount followed by 10% is not 30% but 28%, because the second discount applies to the new price; a 10% increase followed by a 10% decrease turns 100 into 99, not 100. The number of people "between" positions 5 and 12 is 6, while the number of pages "from" 40 "to" 60 is 21.
• Verbal: antonym questions put a synonym among the options (the opposite of al-wahan is "strength", not "weakness"), and synonym questions put a word from the same field (the synonym of al-saghab is "hunger", not "food").
• Reasoning: "If it rains, the ground gets wet; the ground is wet" does not prove it rained; "All doctors are graduates" does not mean "All graduates are doctors"; and the opposite of "All employees attended" is "Some did not attend", not "Nobody attended".
• Spatial: a mirror image looks like the figure but cannot be produced by rotation alone; a 180° rotation is not a reflection; and the clockwise direction is fixed whatever the reading direction of the language.

More than 30 days before the test: build the foundations

• Start by measuring your level: take the free practice test (10 free questions covering the main abilities, no sign-up needed, with the answer and every option explained), then one full mock exam in the practice area so you know your result in each ability before you split your time.
• Split your time roughly by weight: out of every 10 practice sessions, about 3–4 for quantitative, 3 for verbal, 2 for reasoning and 1–2 for spatial, then give more to the ability where your result was weakest.
• Quantitative without a calculator every day: percentages, discounts and fractions; speed, distance and time; ages; and number series. Work on paper and keep your working so you can see where you went wrong.
• Verbal in short daily doses: vocabulary sticks through repetition, so review the flashcards for 15–20 minutes a day rather than in one long weekly session.
• Reasoning and spatial: rules first: read the study notes for each (what does and does not follow from "all", "some" and "if… then", opposite faces of a cube, and rotation versus mirror image), then practise the questions.
• Collect your mistakes: every question you get wrong is added automatically to "My mistakes" and leaves after two correct answers in a row, so go back to it twice a week.

About two weeks before the test: train your timing

• Full timed mocks: take 2–3 mock exams of 100 questions in 125 minutes, weighted like the published abilities, in one sitting without stopping.
• Watch your pace: 75 seconds per question means about 25 minutes for every 20 questions. If you fall behind, find the question type that eats your time (often long word problems, charts and folding nets).
• After every mock: look at your result in each ability, spend the next day on the weakest one and on "My mistakes", and use "Flag for review" for questions you got right by guessing.
• Practise in your test format: if you registered for the computer-based test, practise on screen; if you registered for the paper test, practise on paper.

The last week: review, do not start anything new

• Do not start new question types. Review the lists of common mistakes, the flashcards and "My mistakes".
• Take a final mock three or four days before the test, ideally at the same time of day your test starts.
• Check your booking: you can change or delete it up to 72 hours before a paper test and 48 hours before a computer-based test (details in the registration guide).
• Read the test day guide to know what to bring, when to arrive and what is not allowed in the hall.

The day before the test

• Light review only: vocabulary flashcards and the common-mistake rules, no full mock.
• Get your original accepted ID ready, know your seat number if your test is on paper, and check the test centre location in your profile.
• Sleep early: the test is 2 hours 5 minutes of continuous concentration.

If you are sitting the December 2026 test

The next sitting on ETEC's page is the computer-based test on 6–10 December 2026. Registration is open, and the late period with the SAR 250 fee starts on 5 November 2026. From 20 October to 6 December is about seven weeks, which you can split like this: weeks 1–4 to build the foundations, weeks 5–6 for full timed mocks, and week 7 for review. Register before 5 November to pay SAR 200.

How to use this site in your plan

• Free practice test: 10 free questions across the five abilities with the correct answer and every option explained, no sign-in needed.
• Practice area: practice by ability, "My mistakes", "Flag for review", flashcards, study notes for each ability, and full timed mock exams. 10 questions and the first ability's study notes are free; the rest comes with 7-day or lifetime full access (prices).

Your results on this site are for practice only and do not predict your official score, but they show you which ability needs more time. To check whether you need the test at all, see the guide on who needs the test.