Cognitive Ability Test Content: The Four Abilities, Their Weights and Question Types

Last verified: 18 October 2026. Test details can change, so check the Cognitive Ability Test page on the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) website before you start studying. This is an independent study guide and is not affiliated with ETEC, Qiyas (the National Center for Assessment) or any government body.

The Cognitive Ability Test (اختبار القدرة المعرفية, sometimes written «اختبار القدرات المعرفية») is run by Qiyas, ETEC's National Center for Assessment, for applicants to administrative jobs. ETEC defines it as a test of the cognitive abilities a person uses to perceive and understand relations between things and events, make judgements and assess real-life situations. It is not tied to any field of study: every question falls under four abilities, verbal, quantitative, reasoning and spatial.

Test format at a glance

That gives you about 75 seconds per question on average (125 minutes ÷ 100 questions). Some questions, such as synonyms and antonyms, take only a few seconds, so bank that time for quantitative problems, charts and figures.

The four abilities and their weights

ETEC publishes a definition and a share of the test for each ability:

Quantitative is the heaviest ability, followed by verbal; together they make up about two thirds of the test.

The five sections

Both the paper and the computer-based test have 5 sections of 20 questions each. Do not build your plan around a particular section order, and practise switching between question types without losing your rhythm.

Common question types in each ability

The breakdown below is the one commonly used in preparation materials, and it is how we organised this site's question bank and lessons.

Verbal ability (30%, about 30 questions)

• Synonyms: pick the word closest in meaning to the given word. The target words are often formal, less common Arabic words.
• Antonyms: pick the word with the opposite meaning. The most common trap is a synonym placed among the options.
• Sentence completion: pick the word or two words that make the sentence sound and meaningful. Linking words such as «لكنّ» (but), «لأنّ» (because) and «رغم» (despite) set the direction of the meaning.
• Verbal analogies and word relations: find the relation between a pair of words and choose a pair with the same relation, or pick the word that does not belong.
• Reading comprehension: a short passage followed by questions on the main idea, details, inferences and the meaning of a word in context. ETEC's definition of verbal ability explicitly covers meaning in a "paragraph or written text".

Quantitative ability (35%, about 35 questions)

• Arithmetic and word problems: time and clocks, speed and distance, work rates, ages, buying and selling, and unit conversion.
• Ratio, proportion, percentages and fractions: percentage change, profit and loss, successive discounts and dividing in a given ratio.
• Number series: find the rule of a sequence through differences, multiples, alternating patterns or squares.
• Interpreting charts and tables: read bar charts, pie charts and tables, and work out differences, percentages or averages from them.

All of this is done without a calculator, so the numbers in these questions are usually workable in your head or on paper.

Reasoning ability (20%, about 20 questions)

• Syllogisms and conditional statements: what does and does not follow from "all", "some", "none" and "if… then" statements.
• Ordering and comparison: ranking people or things by height, age, position or date from a set of clues.
• Drawing conclusions from statements and situations: choosing the statement that genuinely follows from the text, not one that repeats the premises or relies on general knowledge.
• Inductive reasoning (symbols, coding and patterns): decoding letters and words, operations with symbols, and letter sequences.

Spatial ability (15%, about 15 questions)

• Folding nets and visualising solids: which cube a flat net folds into, opposite and adjacent faces, and dice.
• Figure series and rotation: spot the rule of change (clockwise or anticlockwise rotation, a moving element, elements added or removed) and choose the next figure.
• Matching, mirror images and completing figures: the figure that matches after rotation, mirror images, the missing piece, and counting cubes.

Study tips by ability

• Quantitative first: at 35% it is the largest ability. Practise without a calculator: percentages, successive discounts, fractions, and speed and time problems. Learning the squares up to 20 makes number series faster.
• Verbal: 30%. Build your stock of formal Arabic vocabulary with synonym and antonym lists you review daily, and for antonyms predict the opposite before reading the options. Read short passages and sum up the main idea in one sentence.
• Reasoning: 20%. Learn what does and does not follow from "all", "some" and "if… then", and draw circles or an ordering line on paper instead of solving in your head.
• Spatial: 15%. Practise cube nets and the opposite-faces rule, and learn to tell rotation from a mirror image; these questions improve with practice more than with memorising.
• Time: about 75 seconds per question. Do not get stuck on one question, and in the last two weeks sit full 100-question tests in 2 hours 5 minutes.
• Delivery: if you registered for the paper test, practise on paper; if you registered for the computer-based test, practise on screen.
• Your goal: there is no pass mark and the score is used to compare applicants, so aim for the highest score you can, not just a minimum.