RIYADH — Registration is open for the 17th edition of the National Program for Gifted Identification, specifically for the Mawhiba Multiple Cognitive Aptitude Test (MMCAT).
This was announced by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, represented by the National Center for Assessment.The last date for registration is December 28, 2026.
The program targets students from the third grade of elementary school through the first year of secondary school, with the aim of identifying their latent academic abilities and skills in language, mathematics, science, and creativity.
The MMCAT measures academic abilities, logical reasoning, linguistic skills, mathematical aptitude, and spatial/creative patterns through images and dimensions. It targets public, private, and international school students in Saudi Arabia, as well as Saudi students studying abroad.
The core goal is to identify talent in science, technology, mathematics, and language, while measuring aspects of creativity to build an integrated national database of gifted students.
Students can take the MMCAT in person, in either Arabic or English, at their choice, at more than 100 computerized testing centers affiliated with the National Center for Assessment across the Kingdom.
The MMCAT comprises four main dimensions: mathematical and spatial reasoning, scientific and mechanical reasoning, mental flexibility, linguistic reasoning, and reading comprehension.
The National Program for Gifted Identification represents the first step in a gifted student’s journey and the primary gateway to most of Mawhiba’s services and programs. It contributes to identifying gifted students in scientific fields through a comprehensive methodology that ensures fairness and equity in their identification and guides them toward appropriate pathways and programs tailored to their abilities.
The program serves as a gateway to a wide range of Mawhiba’s support and development programs. These include academic and research enrichment programs in science, engineering, and medicine; Mawhiba classes; local and international programs held throughout the year and during the summer; as well as specialized programs that prepare students for admission to prestigious international universities.
As the largest annual initiative to discover national talent in scientific fields, the program contributes to building a comprehensive national database of gifted students, raising public awareness of their characteristics and the importance of identifying and nurturing them, supporting scientific research, and enriching Arabic content in the field of giftedness identification.
Since its launch in 2011, the program has represented a model of integrated work between Mawhiba, the Ministry of Education, and the Education and Training Evaluation Commission. It has resulted in the discovery of more than 278,000 talented male and female students, out of more than 776,000 male and female students who applied to sit for the test.
Source: Saudi Gazette