WISC-V
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children
The WISC is the IQ test psychologists most often give to school-age children, for gifted programs, private school applications and to understand how a child learns. The current edition is the fifth, which is why you will see it written WISC-V.
Your child sits at a table with the examiner, who reads every question aloud, shows pictures and blocks, and writes down the answers. Questions start easy and get harder, and each part stops once your child misses a few in a row, so nobody is expected to answer everything.
- Ages
- 6 to 16
- How it is given
- One-to-one with a psychologist, on paper or on a tablet
- How long
- About an hour for the core part
What it measures
- Verbal understanding: explaining what words mean and how two things are alike
- Visual-spatial thinking: building patterns with blocks and putting shapes together
- Fluid reasoning: finding the rule in a picture pattern
- Working memory: holding numbers or pictures in mind
- Processing speed: quick, accurate work with symbols
What you can do
- Tell your child they will do puzzles and answer questions with a friendly grown-up, that some questions are meant for older children, and that missing some is normal.
- Read together and talk about words: what they mean, and how a cat and a dog are alike. That is good for children whether or not they are tested.
- Play with blocks, tangrams and jigsaws, and do picture-pattern puzzles for fun.
- Book a time of day your child is at their best, and make sure they have slept and eaten.
Practice for the same skills
None of these is the WISC-V. Each one builds a general skill it draws on, in a short, friendly format your child can try at home.
- Matrices-style practicePicture puzzles: find the piece that completes the pattern. No words, no clock. Kindergarten to Grade 8.Try it
- Word analogies lessonHow word pairs relate, step by step: a free lesson that builds vocabulary and verbal reasoning.Try it
- CogAT practiceVerbal, number and picture reasoning in three parts. Up to Grade 2, every question is a picture and is read aloud.Try it
- NNAT practiceReasoning with shapes and colors only: no words and no numbers. Kindergarten to Grade 8.Try it
- Free brain testTwenty puzzles with words, numbers and shapes for ages 5 to 13. No account needed, and not an IQ test.Try it
Practice the skills, not the test
These tests are given in person by a trained examiner, and their questions are kept private: publishers do not sell them to families, and nobody can lawfully offer the real items. Nothing on this site is taken from them.
Drilling a child on copies of the questions would not help either. A result is only meaningful if the questions are new to your child, so a rehearsed score can place them in a program that does not fit, and a psychologist may set it aside.
Other tests
- WPPSI
- Stanford-Binet 5
- KABC-II
- KBIT-2
- RIAS-2
- WASI-II
- Woodcock-Johnson and WIAT
- Bracken (BSRA)
- SAGES-3
- Raven's
- Spatial Test Battery
- Torrance and CAP
Test names belong to their publishers and to the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Scholar Tests is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, and nothing on these pages is taken from a test. Ages and times are the publishers' published ranges; editions change, so check the details with the person giving the test.