Qudurat (GAT) Content: The Eight Domains, Weights and Question Types

Last verified: 1 November 2026. Test details can change, so check the General Aptitude 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 General Aptitude Test (GAT; students call it «القدرات» or «قدرات ثانوي») is run by Qiyas, ETEC's National Center for Assessment. ETEC describes it as a test of analytical and reasoning abilities that focuses on your potential to learn, regardless of prior skill in any particular subject. It measures reading comprehension, recognition of logical relationships, problem-solving based on basic mathematical concepts, inference and analogy. Your score counts alongside your school grades and the other admission requirements when universities rank applicants, and each university decides how much weight it gets.

This guide explains what the test is made of: the eight domains and their weights in the scientific and theoretical versions, how each type of question is asked, a worked illustrative example of each, and how to manage your time.

Test format at a glance

The average is about 62 seconds per question (125 minutes ÷ 120 questions). On the computer-based test each section has its own time limit: you answer and review that section only, and once you move on you cannot go back. On the paper test there are no breaks, you can use the pages of the question booklet as scratch paper, and you mark your answers on the answer sheet, not in the booklet.

The scientific and theoretical versions

There are two versions, depending on your school track, and they differ in the weights of the domains:

• Scientific version: for the General track, the Health and Life Sciences track, and the Computer Science and Engineering track.
• Theoretical version: for the Sharia track and the Business Administration track.

Work out your version before you build a study plan. If you are sitting the theoretical version but plan your time with the scientific weights, you spend hours on algebra you will not meet and cut the verbal part, which is three quarters of your test.

The eight domains and their weights

The percentages come from ETEC's page and its test-taker's guide. The approximate question counts are our own calculation, applying each percentage to 120 questions.

What this means for your studying:

• In the scientific version, arithmetic and reading comprehension together make up 44% of the questions, followed by verbal analogy at 17%. Algebra is only about 5 questions.
• In the theoretical version, reading comprehension and verbal analogy together make up 46%, and adding contextual error (16%) brings three verbal domains to 62% of the test. The whole quantitative part is 25%, with no algebra.
• Sentence completion is a small domain in the scientific version (7%) and a larger one in the theoretical version (13%).

The question types, one by one

The examples below are illustrations only and are not from the test. For each type: how it is asked, what ETEC's list of concepts includes, a worked example, and how to approach it.

1. Verbal analogy

How it is asked: the question opens with a pair of words that share a specific relationship, followed by four options, each a pair of words. You choose the pair with the same relationship. ETEC lists these concepts: synonyms, antonyms, cause and effect, part and whole, classification and association. ETEC's guide also shows a second format in this domain, odd one out: four words, three of which are related and one of which is not.

Example: pen : writing

• A) broom : cleaning
• B) car : road
• C) book : library
• D) doctor : patient

The answer is (A). A pen is a tool whose function is writing, and a broom is a tool whose function is cleaning. In (B) and (C) the relation is between a thing and its place, and in (D) between two people.

Odd-one-out example: apple, orange, carrot, banana. The answer is «carrot»: three are fruits and one is a vegetable.

Approach: put the relation into a short sentence before you look at the options ("a tool and its function", "part of a whole") and test each option with the same sentence. Watch the direction: "tool : function" does not match "function : tool". If two options fit, make your sentence more specific until one of them fails.

2. Sentence completion

How it is asked: a sentence with one or more blanks, followed by four options; choose the one that completes it into a meaningful sentence. ETEC lists these concepts: explicit and implicit meanings, concrete and abstract vocabulary, familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary, appropriate and more appropriate word choice, and relationships within the sentence such as cause and effect, chronological and spatial order, negation and affirmation.

Example: "After the student ........ his effort in studying all semester, his result came out high."

• A) neglected
• B) kept up
• C) ignored
• D) delayed

The answer is (B). The sentence links effort to a high result, so the verb must mean continuing the effort. (A), (C) and (D) mean falling short and do not explain the high result.

Approach: read the sentence and predict the word before you read the options. Look at linking words ("but", "because", "despite", "after"), which set the direction of the meaning. When two words could work, choose the one that suits the context best; ETEC names this explicitly as «appropriate and more appropriate vocabulary». Then reread the sentence with your choice to check it reads soundly.

3. Contextual error

How it is asked: a sentence or short text with four highlighted words, one of which does not fit the overall meaning. Choose the word that does not fit the context. ETEC stresses that the error is neither a spelling error nor a grammatical one: it is an error of meaning. Its concept list includes contradiction in meaning, critical sense, what the context needs, general versus specific, absolute versus qualified, and relationships within the sentence such as causality, sequence, contrast, emphasis, complementarity and continuation.

Example: "The engineer was keen that the building be safe, so he used poor-quality durable materials that heat does not affect." Highlighted words: (A) engineer (B) safe (C) poor-quality (D) durable.

The answer is (C). The sentence describes concern for safety and durable materials that heat does not affect, and "poor-quality" contradicts that.

Approach: state the idea of the sentence in one phrase first, then ask of each highlighted word: does it serve this idea or work against it? Do not look for grammar or spelling mistakes. Be wary of absolute words such as "always", "all" and "never" in a sentence about a particular case; they may be the word that falls outside the context.

4. Reading comprehension

How it is asked: a reading passage followed by one or more questions, each with four options and one correct answer. ETEC's concept list includes main ideas, similar and opposite meanings, supporting details, relationships and connections within a text, meanings of words in context, and the referents of pronouns and demonstratives. In practice the questions ask about the main idea, a detail in the text, what can be inferred from it, or the meaning of a word or pronoun in it.

Example: "The municipality of a small town opened a public library in a neighbourhood with no cultural facilities. After a year, teachers noticed that more students were borrowing books and taking a bigger part in expression lessons. The library's staff believe that having books close at hand is what encouraged the children to read."

Question: what reason do the library's staff give for the increase in reading?

• A) Lower book prices
• B) Having books close to the children
• C) More participation in expression lessons
• D) Teachers' enthusiasm

The answer is (B); it is what the library's staff say in the passage. Option (C) is the trap: it appears in the passage, but it is a result of more reading, not its cause.

Approach: read the question, then go back to the passage for the evidence, and do not answer from what you already know about the topic. Watch for options that repeat a word from the passage but change its meaning. For pronoun and demonstrative questions, go back to the previous sentence and put the referent in place of the pronoun to check that the meaning holds. For word-meaning questions, choose the meaning that fits the sentence, not the word's most familiar meaning.

5. Arithmetic

How it is asked: maths problems with easy numbers, because calculators are not allowed. ETEC's concept list includes arithmetic operations, number patterns, powers and roots, time and motion, numbers, fractions, estimation, place value, comparing numbers, ratios, proportions and percentages, scale, currency and unit conversions, measures of central tendency and probability. ETEC's guide also shows another format in the quantitative part, comparison: two values, first and second, and you decide which of four statements is right: the first is greater, the second is greater, the two are equal, or the information is not enough. On this site we count comparison questions under arithmetic.

Example: an item costs SAR 200. Its price is cut by 25%, and then the new price is cut by another 10%. What is the final price?

• A) 130
• B) 135
• C) 140
• D) 150

The answer is (B). After the first cut: 200 × 0.75 = 150. After the second: 150 × 0.9 = 135. Option (A) is the trap: adding 25% and 10% to make 35% gives 130, but the second cut is taken from the new price, not from 200.

Comparison example: first value: 25% of 80. Second value: 20% of 100. The first is 20 and the second is 20, so the answer is that the two values are equal.

Approach: turn the text into a short calculation or equation. If the working gets long, reread the question, because the numbers are designed to be easy. Successive percentages multiply; they do not add. Check the units (minutes and hours, riyals and halalas) before you calculate. Round when the options are far apart. In comparison questions, simplify both values before working them out, and only choose "not enough information" if the answer would change when an unknown value changes.

6. Geometry

How it is asked: a problem in a figure or in words. Many figures carry a note that they are not drawn to scale, so do not estimate lengths and angles by eye. ETEC's concept list includes shapes, angles, areas, volumes, perimeters, lines, triangles and quadrilaterals, the Pythagorean theorem, polygons, similar triangles, circles, three-dimensional figures and the coordinate system.

Example: a rectangle has a perimeter of 36 cm and its length is twice its width. What is its area in square centimetres?

• A) 48
• B) 64
• C) 72
• D) 144

The answer is (C). If the width is w, the length is 2w, and the perimeter is 2(w + 2w) = 6w = 36, so the width is 6 cm and the length is 12 cm, and the area is 6 × 12 = 72. Check: 2 × (6 + 12) = 36.

Approach: learn the basic formulas (the area of a triangle, rectangle and circle, Pythagoras, the angle sum of a triangle and a quadrilateral). Sketch the figure if none is given and write the givens on it. Write each angle or length you work out on the figure before moving on to what is asked. In area and perimeter questions, check that the units match.

7. Algebra

How it is asked: applications of equations and inequalities, simplifying algebraic expressions and basic identities, at the level of basic mathematical knowledge. It is 4% of the scientific version and absent from the theoretical version.

Example: if 3(x − 2) = x + 8, what is the value of x?

• A) 5
• B) 6
• C) 7
• D) 8

The answer is (C). 3x − 6 = x + 8, so 2x = 14 and x = 7. Check: 3(7 − 2) = 15 and 7 + 8 = 15.

Approach: if solving looks long, plug in the options, which is quick when the numbers are small. In an inequality, remember that multiplying or dividing by a negative number reverses the direction of the sign. When simplifying expressions, spot identities early, such as (a + b)² and (a − b)(a + b).

8. Data interpretation

How it is asked: data shown as bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, tables or Venn diagrams, followed by questions you answer by calculating from them. These are the formats ETEC lists.

Example: the table shows the number of books borrowed from a library over four days:

By what percentage did Tuesday's borrowing exceed Monday's?

• A) 40%
• B) 60%
• C) 80%
• D) 90%

The answer is (C). The increase is 90 − 50 = 40 books, and as a share of the original (Monday) it is 40 ÷ 50 = 0.8, which is 80%. Option (A) is the trap: it takes the difference of 40 as a percentage.

Approach: read the title and units first, then the question, then go back to the data. For a percentage increase, divide the difference by the original value, not the new one. The sectors of a pie chart always add up to 100%, so you can find a missing sector by adding the others and subtracting from 100. In a Venn diagram, start with the overlap between the circles and work outwards, so you do not count an item twice.

How to spend 125 minutes

• Average: about 62 seconds per question, and about 25 minutes for every 24 questions.
• Usually quick: verbal analogy, odd one out, contextual error, sentence completion and algebra, so do not linger on them.
• Need more time: reading comprehension, data interpretation and long arithmetic problems. This is where the time you saved goes.
• Do not get stuck: if two minutes pass without progress, pick the closest answer and move on. On the computer-based test you cannot return to an earlier section, so use all of a section's time and review its answers before you move on.

A study plan for your version

Scientific version

• Start with arithmetic (23%) and reading comprehension (21%), the two biggest domains.
• Master percentages, fractions, ratio and proportion, speed and averages, because they appear in both arithmetic and data interpretation.
• In the verbal part, give verbal analogy (17%) more review than sentence completion (7%).
• Algebra is 4%: give it a little time once the other domains are secure.

Theoretical version

• Start with reading comprehension (25%), verbal analogy (21%) and contextual error (16%), which make up 62% of the questions.
• In the quantitative part (25%), focus on arithmetic and geometry, and do not spend time on algebra, which is not in your test.
• Give data interpretation (4%) a short block of time; tables, bars and percentages are enough.

For both versions

• Start by measuring your level: answer questions from every domain, then order your study from weakest to strongest, weighted by each domain's share in your version.
• Practise arithmetic without a calculator: make multiplication of small numbers, common fractions (½, ¼, ⅕) and percentages (10%, 25%, 50%) automatic.
• Train the verbal part with short daily review: vocabulary and word relations improve with steady repetition more than with cramming in the last week.
• A day or two before the test: sit a full test with the same number of questions and the same time: 120 questions in 125 minutes with no calculator.

How Qudurat differs from Tahsili and from the university-graduate test

Qudurat measures understanding, application, reasoning and analysis using language and maths, and does not rely on bare facts. The Tahsili (the Standardized Academic Achievement Test) measures what you studied in the secondary school curriculum. They are separate tests, and many universities ask for both alongside your grades. The «قدرات الجامعيين» (PGAT) is another test, for graduates who want to study at postgraduate level; its components and weights are different, so do not carry this guide's weights over to it.

How this site helps

• Free questions: 10 questions with no sign-up, after which you see what you would score if you sat the test today and your weakest part.
• Practice by domain: verbal and quantitative questions spread across the eight domains, with every option explained.
• Full mock exam: 120 questions in 125 minutes with the scientific version's weights.
• Mistakes notebook: go back to the questions you got wrong.
• Arabic and English: switch the language of a question with one tap.
• A score for each domain: see where you lose points.

The questions on this site are for practice and are not issued by ETEC, and your scores here are not an official result. Start now with the free questions and you will see which domain to begin with.