Canadian Forces Aptitude Test (CFAT) [MERGED]

[da1root]

Are required CFAT scores the same for the Reg Force?  If a person joins the Reserves in a particular trade and later wants to CT to the Reg force in the same MOSID, will they be required to re-write the CFAT?

The CFAT Occupation Generator doesn't make a distinction between Reg & PRes.  The only difference is Language & NCM vs Officer.
I've never heard of someone who is CT'ing to the same occupation having to rewrite a CFAT and I've processed a good number of CT's through the years.

This is not gospel; I'm not a PSO/TDO - someone in one of those occupations might have more insight than I do.

 

[Shanny_deee]

Hey all! Its my first time posting, I am in the application process for the Navy. I took the CFAT twice, applying for Intelligence Officer but both times my score was not high enough. The first time round, I was given a list of other trades I was eligible for and the second time I was told, based on my scores I was only eligible for 2 trades. I am not sure if I bombed the 2nd time really bad, to the extent that I can only be considered for anything else.(I was super nervous) Also, they told me, that I can re-take the exam a third time but that I require to take a course. Does anybody know what the courses are? Are they taken with an outside institution, for example: University, college, or does the Forces have their own course? Im extremely confused about this process, if anyone can shed light on this for me, Thanks!

 

[mariomike]

Also, they told me, that I can re-take the exam a third time but that I require to take a course.

You may find these discussions of interest,

CFAT - Third Time
https://www.google.com/search?rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-CA%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7GGHP_en-GBCA592&ei=8yUsW9cZhaKPBOelkNgB&q=site%3Aarmy.ca+cfat+%22third+time%22&oq=site%3Aarmy.ca+cfat+%22third+time%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...21565.26646.0.26945.7.7.0.0.0.0.102.553.6j1.7.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.wboMZuXWHoQ

As always, Recruiting is your most trusted source of official, up to date, information.

"Unofficial site, not associated with DND or the Canadian Armed Forces."

 

[jaqen]

Just had and passed CFAT today and it was harder than expected even after reading the forums.

 

[Schwartzie55]

Jaqen, you shouldn’t be writing about content of the CFAT. You took an oath just before writing it, it’s confidential.

 

[lajunyeup]

I think it's fine. Jaqen didn't write about any contents of the CFAT. It may be a concern for recruiters if he wrote about the vocabulary in the exam or the type of math questions (which already are given in the armed forces recruiting website).

 

[da1root]

What was written is fine.
You cannot give examples of the questions. 
And while there are apps and examples out there, they are examples not the actual material.

This is a non-issue.

 

[FutureSoldier92]

I recently completed my CAF aptitude test last Monday, July 16, 2018.

For those wondering, the actual aptitude test was much more difficult than the samples provided (as stated right on the practice aptitude test). The sample is simply there to give you an idea about the structure of the exam, not the actual difficulty level (so keep this in mind when preparing).

In regards to the pass/fail questions I've read regarding the aptitude test, the Sergeant I spoke with following completion of the aptitude test informed me that the test is normalized and your score is placed on a bell curve. What this means is that your raw score DOESN'T mean anything, but it is compared to the overall average of every applicant to the Canadian Armed Forces. Thus, the average is in the middle of the bell curve, and given the designation as the 50th %ile. This means that you are right in the middle of the spread (50% of people scored higher, 50% scored lower). So in that sense, there is no "pass or fail". However, your normalized score will have an impact on a variety of factors. Firstly, if you score significantly lower, your application will be less competitive compared to your peers who scored higher overall. Additionally, certain occupations require specified values. If you are lower than the designated value, you will not be eligible for the occupation you applied for.

This was my understanding of it anyway. Hopefully that makes sense and clears things up for some of you.

Best of luck, everyone. Study hard and hopefully i'll see you at BMQ in the months to come.

Cheers,

B

 

[MPC]

Did my CFAT today and I qualified for all NCM positions and also for Officer.

I didn't expect that.. I'm a 32 y/o mom and my grade 10 math is way behind me. But I did study. I took the test in English and it's not my first language (French is) but still scored an "Above Average" for verbal skills.

Overall, the test was somewhat challenging. Some questions are much harder than others. If you're still wondering, the practice test is a good indicator of the type of questions you might encounter. Don't skip any, if you're not sure just pick something.

Also only 3 people including myself got to do their medical afterward.. Which means that only 3 of us (we were 9 total) successfully passed.

Hope that helps.

 

[da1root]

Also only 3 people including myself got to do their medical afterward.. Which means that only 3 of us (we were 9 total) successfully passed.

That doesn't mean the other 6 didn't pass.  There are only so many people that can be processed by medical at a time.  There could have been other appointments on the schedule; or the people who didn't do their medical could have had other commitments making it so that they couldn't stay.  Keep in mind that not everyone does same day processing.

End State: to everyone on this board, don't get nervous based on that statement; however also don't get "over confident" thinking you'll "do fine".  If you want to join the CAF; prep for the CFAT - that's the biggest "hurdle" at getting in.

 

[MPC]

Oh but the MCpl said that only the applicants that would successfully complete the CFAT would go on to the next part (medical) right after. That's how we knew. Only 3 of us were left. I'm not saying that it works that way for every cfrc, that's just my own experience at that particular location.

Your last statement is 100% right. People should prepare. I did study a lot before going in and that helped tremendously.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Schwartzie55]

There is a CFAT Trining app that is really helpful. I believe you can get it through the App Store for about $7 or close to that. It reflects the CF sample but more difficult.

 

[Jackal2018]

There is a CFAT Trining app that is really helpful. I believe you can get it through the App Store for about $7 or close to that. It reflects the CF sample but more difficult.

I can vouch for this app.

It doesn't get everything exactly like the actual test, but it's much closer than anything else I've found online. Price was decent for what you get too.

I would say one of the most important things to be watchful for is the time remaining. Always check how much time you have because you could easily get lost in a single question and then have no time to answer the rest.
You can always come back to a question, at least put any answer then come back to it if you have time after the others.

 

[seanrea]

Did a search on this topic and couldn't find a similar question/answer.

Can an applicant request accommodations for taking the test when they have a diagnosed learning disability?

 

[kratz]

Did a search on this topic and couldn't find a similar question/answer.

Can an applicant request accommodations for taking the test when they have a diagnosed learning disability?

Answer: No

Occasionally, CF Recruiting staffs receive requests from applicants for testing accommodations outside of normal testing procedures. Examples of such requests might include the use of a calculator, to have additional time, to have the questions read to them aloud, or to have a learning assistant present to assist them. Unfortunately, such requests are not possible for two reasons:
Altering the test administration for a specific candidate would make their percentile and the established cut-off scores (and comparisons with other applicants) invalid; and
Altering the test administration for all respondents would substantially change what is measured by the test and require complete revision of the test items, percentiles and time limits.

 

[Xylric]

There is a way to adapt yourself to taking the test when you have a learning disability, as opposed to having the test adapted to meet your needs. Depending on the particulars of your learning disability, of course. For me the challenge was answering the questions as asked, since I have a tendency to rush. Pace yourself, and I don't think you'll have any trouble.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

There is a way to adapt yourself to taking the test when you have a learning disability, as opposed to having the test adapted to meet your needs. Depending on the particulars of your learning disability, of course. For me the challenge was answering the questions as asked, since I have a tendency to rush. Pace yourself, and I don't think you'll have any trouble.

Exactly. There are far too many people using their struggles as an excuse in order to have an argument for their poor performance.
(NOTE: I’m in no way stating that in some instances a learning disability isn’t severe enough to warrant adjustments to their environment. What I AM stating, however, is that in some cases it’s an easy out to have others cater to them and it can’t be expected that everything will be altered to match each individual’s preference—we can’t keep lowering our baseline.)

I very clearly have an undiagnosed learning disability. My struggles became most prevalent in high-school. This drew the attention of a few teachers. However, in speaking with specialists who frequented our school-board, it was explained that although I had to put in extreme effort to match even the average performance levels of most of the student body in certain areas, I had found a way to compensate for my problem areas. In short, I figured out a method that worked for me during my school years. I looked around and saw what I needed to aspire to. I didn’t expect anyone to come down and meet me at my level.

That being said, there are certain jobs that I’ll just never be able to do and I accept that. I love the sciences, but I can’t process the subject matter. I’m desperately weak in maths—I understand enough to get by. It simply doesn’t click. I struggle with social situations. I have great difficulties with memorization and retaining specific facts. However, I have good research skills, good grasp of languages, and excel in the arts. I passed the CFAT and qualified for all the trades I was hoping for. Put the work in. If I can do it, anyone can. If one truly thinks they can’t perform at the necessary level, then perhaps they need to find an alternative career path.

 

[Jiminito]

I had the pleasure of writing the CFAT at the Denison Armoury on August 2nd. But my medic recruiting officer is at Moss Park. He said has not yet received my file back yet and it's been 2 weeks since I had written the test. 
Is there a way to contact Denison Armoury to find out what's happening with my file? They were supposed to send it back to Moss Park for processing since they don't deal with medic recruits, I don't suppose it'll take more than 2 weeks, or does it?

 

[m9322]

To start off, I qualified for the trades I want, so I'm more asking out of interest. I wasn't told specifically how well I did on the test, but when my mom asked (Im under 18 so I needed parental consent) the recruiting officer said that I qualified for all the trades. Qualifying for them all seems rather unlikely; what's the average amount to qualify for? Has anybody here qualified for all of them?

 

[PMedMoe]

To start off, I qualified for the trades I want, so I'm more asking out of interest. I wasn't told specifically how well I did on the test, but when my mom asked (Im under 18 so I needed parental consent) the recruiting officer said that I qualified for all the trades. Qualifying for them all seems rather unlikely; what's the average amount to qualify for? Has anybody here qualified for all of them?

Why would you doubt them?  When I originally did my CFAT (in '84), I also qualified for all trades.  The only trades closed to me were Combat Arms (no women allowed at that time) and Firefighter (due to my height).  Pretty sure when I redid the CFAT (as it is now) in 1996 or 1997, I still qualified for all trades.

:dunno: