Cognitive Skills Test – Basic Reading & Math

Hire the right person with the Cognitive Skills Test – Basic Reading & Math test and assess general reading and math skills.   Use this test to assess your candidates’ reading and math skills with this short aptitude battery.

Purpose

The Cognitive Skills Test – Basic Reading & Math screens for problem-solving, basic math and writing skills and is appropriate to use for a wide variety of job titles and work settings.

What It’s Best Used For

This screening battery is best used during the initial recruitment phase or internal promotion cycles to vet temporary, permanent, or entry-level staff before investing heavy corporate training and onboarding resources.

• Targeting Routine Support Roles: It is highly optimized for screening general office and clerical workers, administrative assistants, customer service representatives, and sales teams.
• Vetting Math & Counting Skills (Untimed): Features an untimed 25-question arithmetic segment that isolates a candidate’s baseline math aptitude, score precision, and capacity to handle inventory calculations or simple spreadsheets.
• Testing Reading Comprehension (Timed): Features a strict 16-minute timed module containing 28 questions spread across six distinct passages to ensure applicants can accurately interpret training manuals, company protocols, and customer correspondence.
• Identifying High Performers: High scorers are statistically proven to complete quantitative and writing assignments faster, make fewer errors, absorb new materials quickly, and require significantly less supervisor oversight.
• Frictionless Recruiting Setup: The unproctored platform supports both English and Spanish language configurations, functions on any desktop device, and delivers an immediate online score report breaking down five distinct math scores alongside a reading percentile ranking.

The test has a validated correlation with overall employee performance (\(r=.21\)) and general skills competence (\(r=.24\)), and it is fully legal for use in Canada.

About this test

This test should be used to hire temporary or permanent workers who need to comprehend reading materials (training manuals, instructions, customer correspondence), and perform math calculations (counting, inventory, simple spreadsheets).

Recommended for

We recommend using this test for general office and clerical workers, customer service and sales representatives, support staff assistants, and a variety of entry level to supervisory positions.

High scorers

People scoring high on this test are usually faster in completing math related and writing tasks and they make fewer mistakes. They are quicker to learn and less likely to need constant supervision and repeated training.

Low scorers

People scoring low on this test are slower to complete math related and writing tasks. They make more mistakes which then takes extra time to resolve. Low scorers may also need constant supervision to make sure they are producing error-free and accurate materials.

Time limits

• Basic Math Arithmetic – 25 questions, untimed
• Reading Comprehension – 28 questions, 6 reading passages ; timed at 16 minutes

What the Report Gives You

A graphical display of five separate percent correct math scores and a single percentile score of reading comprehension; score interpretation guidelines are also included.

Testing Process

Test proctoring is preferred but not necessary. Online, remote testing can be done from any device with a reliable internet connection. The use of mobile phones is discouraged. Test results are provided immediately.

Validity: This test battery combines RA’s Reading Comprehension and Comprehensive Basic Math tests. These tests have been shown to be significantly related with: overall performance (r=.21*); ability to learn (r=.37**); reasoning ability(r=.36**); skills competence(r=.24*); openness to new learning (r=.28**); overall performance ratings (r=.29**); and ability to get along with coworkers (r=.28**)