OLSAT practice for kindergarten to 3rd grade
The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test has verbal and nonverbal questions. At Levels A to C, for kindergarten to 2nd grade, some are listening questions the teacher reads aloud; from Level D, in 3rd grade, the listening questions give way to kinds such as antonyms and sentence completion. Here’s each kind, drawn in our own style, and a short practice set.
Try a practice set
Six questions in the OLSAT’s style, for the grade your child is in. Tap the speaker on each to hear it read aloud.
OLSAT-style practice
Six questions like the Level A test, read aloud, with no clock. A new set every time.
Read each question aloud yourself if your browser can’t.
Levels by grade
| Level | Grade | How it’s given |
|---|---|---|
| Level A | Kindergarten | On paper |
| Level B | 1st grade | On paper |
| Level C | 2nd grade | On paper or online |
| Level D | 3rd grade | On paper or online |
The test isn’t run against a clock: the publisher says the time varies by level, up to 75 minutes. It can be given to one child or a group.
What’s on it
| Part | Levels A to C | From Level D |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal: Verbal Comprehension | Following Directions | Antonyms, Sentence Completion, Sentence Arrangement |
| Verbal: Verbal Reasoning | Aural Reasoning, Arithmetic Reasoning | Arithmetic Reasoning, Logical Selection, Word/Letter Matrix, Verbal Analogies, Verbal Classification, Inference (from Level E) |
| Nonverbal: Pictorial Reasoning | Picture Classification, Picture Analogies, Picture Series (Level A only) | None |
| Nonverbal: Figural Reasoning | Figural Classification, Figural Analogies, Pattern Matrix, Figural Series | Figural Classification (Level D only), Figural Analogies, Pattern Matrix, Figural Series |
| Nonverbal: Quantitative Reasoning | None | Number Series, Numeric Inference, Number Matrix |
Each kind of question
One of each from Levels A to C, at Level B (1st grade), with how to think about it.
Following directions
The teacher says where things are, and the child finds the picture that shows it.
“Find the picture where the triangle is next to the box.”
Listen to the question.Answer: A. Listen for the place word: inside, above, under or next to. Aural reasoning
A short story or question read aloud, and the picture that answers it.
“Which one has wheels?”
Listen to the question.Answer: C. Hold the story in your head, then check each picture against it. Arithmetic reasoning
A number story read aloud, and the box with the right number of things.
“Ivy had three eggs. Ivy used one to bake a cake. Which box shows how many are left?”
Listen to the question.Answer: A. Picture the story: how many at the start, and did it go up or down? Picture classification
Three pictures that belong together, and the one that belongs with them.
“Look at the three pictures in the top row. They are alike in some way. Which picture goes with them?”
Answer: B. Say what all three are, then find another one. Picture analogies
Two pictures that go together, and the picture that goes with a third the same way.
“Look at the top pictures. They go together. Which picture goes with the bottom picture in the same way?”
?Answer: D. Say the top pair as a sentence, then say it with the bottom picture. Figural analogies
A shape that changes, and the same change made to another shape.
“Look at the top two boxes. See how the shape changes. Which one changes the same way in the bottom row?”
?Answer: D. Name every change, then make all of them. Pattern matrix
A grid of shapes in rows and columns, with the last box empty.
“Look at the rows and the columns. Which shape goes in the empty box?”
?Answer: D. Find what each row shares and what each column shares. Figural series
A row of shapes that changes step by step, and what comes next.
“Look at the shapes in the row. They change in a pattern. Which one comes next?”
?Answer: C. Say the change from each box to the next.
How it’s scored
A School Ability Index, percentile ranks and stanines compare your child with children of the same age, and percentile ranks and stanines with children in the same grade, using fall and spring norms from 40,000 students across the country. Reports give a total score and verbal and nonverbal scores. Given with the Stanford 10 achievement test, it also compares achievement with ability.
Districts that use it
Newport News Public Schools (Virginia)
Universal NNAT screening of second graders, 13-24 October 2025, for 2026-27 placement; NNAT on referral in grade 1. OLSAT for qualified second graders, 2-12 December 2025, after the universal NNAT screening.
sbo.nn.k12.va.us/gifted/evaluation.htmlWestport Public Schools (Connecticut)
All second graders take the OLSAT; OLSAT or WASI on nomination in K, 1 and 3-8.
westportps.org/departments/pupil-services/gifted…
How to help, and what to avoid
Do
- Make the kinds of question and the directions familiar. Young children sometimes don’t understand what to do on a task they’ve never seen, with brief directions, and the CogAT’s publisher says practice led by a teacher can make scores more valid and stable.
- Practice little and often over weeks. Frantic cramming at the last minute isn’t usually successful.
- The night before, an early bedtime; on the morning, a good breakfast. Keep a sick child home and ask for another day.
- Tell them to listen carefully to the teacher, stay calm if some questions seem hard, and give their best answer.
Avoid
- Drilling or heavy coaching. The CogAT’s publisher rotates its test forms so that coaching has less effect.
- Reading too much into a score after a lot of practice on the same puzzles: a second NNAT within weeks or months usually scores about 4 points higher from familiarity alone.
- Treating one score as the whole picture. Districts such as Fairfax County weigh a test score as one piece of evidence among several.
From info.riversideinsights.com/hubfs/Cog%20Speakings…, pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global…, greenville.k12.sc.us/News/main.asp?titleid=2310c…, cdn.erblearn.org/www/20260801_E3n_ISEE_QuickFact…, content.govdelivery.com/attachments/VAEDUFCPS/20….
Questions about the OLSAT
How long is the OLSAT?
It isn’t run against a clock. The publisher says the time varies by level, up to 75 minutes.
Does my child need to read for the OLSAT?
Levels A to C, for kindergarten to 2nd grade, include listening questions the teacher reads aloud, though the publisher’s pages we read don’t say whether every question is read aloud. From Level D, in 3rd grade, the listening questions give way to kinds such as antonyms and sentence completion.
Can the OLSAT be taken online?
From Level C (2nd grade) up, on paper or online. Levels A and B, for kindergarten and 1st grade, are on paper only.
Are these real test questions?
No. Every question here is written by AskThena in the style of each test and made fresh each time. CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, ISEE and SSAT are trademarks of their publishers, and AskThena isn’t connected with or endorsed by them.
Every question here is written by AskThena in the style of the test and made fresh each time. CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, ISEE and SSAT are trademarks of their publishers, and AskThena isn’t connected with or endorsed by them.
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