OLSAT and CogAT are separate assessments published by different companies. Both can provide schools information about reasoning, and both include language and visual tasks. Their structure, levels, score reports, and administration are not interchangeable.
OLSAT vs CogAT infographic
Read the infographic text
Both assess reasoning skills across K–12. Your school chooses the assessment and how results are used.
OLSAT 8: Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
- Publisher: Pearson.
- Organization: Verbal and nonverbal sections; includes quantitative reasoning.
- Levels: Seven lettered levels, A–G. Typical matches run from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
- Early grades: Spoken directions, familiar pictures, and figure relationships. Item types vary by level.
- Example task families: Following directions, picture and figural analogies, pattern matrices, and number reasoning.
CogAT: Cognitive Abilities Test
- Publisher: Riverside Insights.
- Organization: Three batteries: Verbal, Quantitative, and Nonverbal.
- Levels: Ten numbered levels, 5/6–17/18. Levels cover Kindergarten to Grade 12.
- Early grades: K–2 uses picture-based tasks, including in the Verbal battery. Pictures can assess verbal reasoning.
- Example task families: Picture or verbal analogies, number analogies, figure matrices, and paper folding.
Examples vary by level and form. The CogAT Screening Form is shorter than the full battery.
What transfers between tests?
Listening carefully, noticing relationships, checking patterns, and explaining an answer. Question formats, level labels, and scores are not interchangeable.
Ask your school
- Which test, edition, and level?
- Full assessment or screening form?
- What format, timing, and accommodations?
- How will the results be used?
Infographic sources: Pearson OLSAT 8 overview; OLSAT 8 scope and sequence; Riverside Insights CogAT overview; CogAT assessment structure; and CogAT test descriptions. Checked September 30, 2026. OLSAT.net is an independent educational resource.
Where the preparation overlaps
For either test, families can practice reading or hearing directions, noticing relationships, and explaining a choice. Original reasoning exercises can reduce unfamiliarity without copying secure questions.
Where to be careful
Do not assume a CogAT battery score translates to an OLSAT School Ability Index, or that a question type on one test appears on the other. Ask the school which assessment it is using. If it is OLSAT, choose the OLSAT level guide and the OLSAT.net practice session.
For the separate CogAT assessment, see CogAT.org.
Source: Pearson OLSAT 8 product overview and Pearson OLSAT 8 scope-and-sequence brochure. OLSAT.net is an independent educational resource; examples here are original and are not official test questions.