Is the CCAT harder than the Wonderlic?

The CCAT gives 18 seconds per question against 14.4 on the Wonderlic, so the clock is kinder, but it has more spatial and multi-step math questions. People who are strong with words tend to find the Wonderlic easier; people who are strong with shapes and numbers, the CCAT.

What is the difference between the CCAT and the PI Cognitive Assessment?

The CCAT is 50 questions in 15 minutes with five answer choices and, by vendor reports, no going back. The PI test is 50 questions in 12 minutes with four choices, and you can move back and forth between pages.

Are the Wonderlic and the Predictive Index test the same?

No. Both have 50 questions in 12 minutes, but they come from different publishers, the PI test has four answer choices instead of five and allows going back, and the guessing advice differs.

Does practicing for one test help with the others?

Yes for the shared question types: word problems, number series, analogies, opposites and logic statements appear on all three. Figure questions and the pacing rules differ, so finish with a practice test in your own test's format.

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CCAT vs Wonderlic vs PI Cognitive Assessment

Three tests, each with 50 questions and a short clock, and they are constantly confused with one another. The content overlaps. The rules do not, and the rules change how you should take each one.

Updated October 13, 2026 · by TimedPrep

The comparison table

	CCAT	Wonderlic	PI Cognitive Assessment
Publisher	Criteria Corp	Wonderlic, Inc.	The Predictive Index
Questions	50	50 (short form: 30)	50
Minutes	15	12 (short form: 8)	12
Seconds per question	18	14.4 (short form: 16)	14.4
Answer choices	5	5 on most; 3 on logic and word pairs	4; 3 on formal logic
Going back	No, according to prep vendors	Publisher: "do not skip around"	Yes: five questions per page, Previous and Next buttons
Guessing rule	No penalty; "guess and move on"	"Guessing is not likely to improve your score"; mark your best choice if you think you know	Wrong answers do not count against you
Calculator	No	No	No
Question areas	Verbal, math and logic, spatial	Mixed: words, numbers, logic, a few graphs and shapes	Verbal, numerical, abstract (nine sub-types)
Order of difficulty	Loosely rising (vendor reports)	Rising (older research)	Own order for every candidate
Phone	Any device, including phones	Not stated on candidate pages	Computer or tablet; not a smartphone
Average result	24 correct	About 20 to 22 on the older 50-point scale	250 scaled, about 20 correct
Employer sees	Raw score, percentile, three area percentiles, fit to a suggested range	A job-specific result combined with motivation and personality	Scaled score 100 to 450, match to the job's target
You see	Nothing from the publisher	No number; sometimes a feedback report	Employer's choice
Comes with	Often a personality test chosen by the employer	58 motivation items and 150 personality statements	Usually the 6-minute Behavioral Assessment

Sources: Criteria's CCAT preparation page and Information Brief; Wonderlic's sample assessment and candidate FAQ; The Predictive Index's Administrator's Guide, scoring page and sample questions. Checked October 2026. Where a row says "vendor reports", the publisher does not state it and we are relying on what prep companies consistently describe.

What is the same

All three are short tests of general reasoning. All three are built so that most people do not finish. None allows a calculator. None has a published pass mark: the employer decides what result it wants for the role. And they share a core of question types: arithmetic word problems, number series, analogies, opposites, and "true, false or cannot tell" logic statements. Practice on those carries over from one test to the next.

What is different in the questions

The CCAT has the most spatial content. By vendor counts about 11 of 50 questions are figures: series, odd one out, and 3 by 3 grids. It also has attention-to-detail questions and, by vendor counts, more word problems than anything else.
The Wonderlic is the most verbal and the most varied. Analogies, opposites, similar-or-opposite word pairs, scrambled sentences, sayings, date comparisons, trend graphs, a few shape puzzles. Wonderlic itself says only a small number of questions involve calculations. No question takes long, but the type changes every time.
The PI is the most regular. Nine sub-types, three verbal, three numerical, three abstract, in roughly equal numbers. Its abstract questions (figure series, figure analogies, "which figure does not share the common feature") make up about a third of the test.

Free full-length timed tests, no sign-up. Pick the one you were invited to.

Wonderlic CCAT PI Cognitive Assessment Not sure: general test

Which is harder?

There is no publisher data that puts the three on one scale, so this is our reading of the formats, not a measured fact.

By the clock, the CCAT is the kindest: 18 seconds per question is 25% more than 14.4. But its questions are longer on average, and you cannot bank easy ones for later.

By raw averages they are close: the average CCAT taker gets 24 right; the average PI taker about 20; the classic Wonderlic was built for an average near 20. People answer fewer than half the questions correctly on all three.

Which one is harder for you depends on what you are good at:

Strong with words, slower with shapes: the Wonderlic suits you best. The PI will cost you on the abstract third, the CCAT on the spatial fifth.
Strong with numbers and patterns, weaker vocabulary: the PI and CCAT suit you; the Wonderlic's word pairs, sayings and scrambled sentences will be where you lose time.
Accurate but slow: the CCAT's extra seconds help, and so does the PI's rule that wrong answers cost nothing and you may go back. The Wonderlic's 14.4 seconds with no free guessing is the least forgiving.
Fast but careless: the opposite. The Wonderlic rewards quick, simple answers; on the CCAT the multi-step math punishes skipped steps.
English is your second language: the PI and CCAT lean less on vocabulary than the Wonderlic does. The Predictive Index offers its test in many languages; ask the employer whether you can take it in yours.

How your strategy should change

If you are taking the CCAT

Never leave a blank. Once a question has taken 35 to 40 seconds, pick the best remaining choice and go; the publisher's own limit is a minute. Checkpoints: minute 5 and minute 10. Full guide: CCAT.

If you are taking the Wonderlic

Work in order and do not skip around. Commit to your best choice when you have narrowed a question down, but do not fill in random answers at the end: the publisher says guessing is not likely to improve your score. Take care with the early questions. Checkpoints: minute 4 and minute 8. Full guide: Wonderlic.

If you are taking the PI

Use the pages. On each page of five, answer the quick questions, put a best choice on the slow ones and move on. Leave nothing blank, since wrong answers do not count against you. If you have time at the end, go back to the ones you were unsure about. Full guide: PI Cognitive Assessment.

If you have more than one coming

People applying to several companies often get two of these in the same month. Prepare the shared question types once, then take one timed test in each format so the clock and the rules do not surprise you. The one habit that does not transfer is guessing: what is right on the CCAT and PI is against the publisher's advice on the Wonderlic. Check which test you are sitting before you start; here is how to tell.

TimedPrep has a free full-length timed test for each of the three formats, with no sign-up. Paid access is $29 for one exam, or $49 with the drill trainer, one-time.