Your recruiter just sent a CCAT link, and partway through your first practice run the quiet question shows up: is someone watching me take this? Can they see my screen, hear my room, or catch me glancing at another tab? The honest answer is that it depends entirely on your employer, and the CCAT can be delivered three very different ways, from completely unmonitored to a live person watching you over a webcam. This guide covers each monitoring mode, what it records, how to tell which one you are facing, and how to set up cleanly. One clarification first: this is the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test from Criteria Corp, the workplace hiring test, not the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test schools use for children. Same acronym, completely different test.
Quick takeaways
- Whether the CCAT is proctored depends entirely on the employer. Criteria Corp gives each company the choice, so there is no single yes or no.
- There are three modes on a spectrum: fully unproctored, AI proctoring (automated monitoring), and live human proctoring over a webcam.
- Even a “not proctored” at-home CCAT often runs Criteria AI Proctoring in the background: periodic screen and audio samples, candidate photos, and flags for tab switching and second devices (source: criteriacorp.com).
- Some employers, Crossover among them, add a live proctored retake after your first score to verify the number is genuinely yours.
- The test itself is identical in every mode: 50 questions, 15 minutes, verbal, math and logic, and spatial reasoning, no calculator allowed (source: criteriacorp.com).
- The practical takeaway: prepare as if you are being watched, because more and more you are.
The short answer: it depends on your employer
Criteria Corp builds and sells the CCAT to employers, and each employer chooses how to deliver it. That single fact explains all the conflicting things you have read online. A Reddit thread swears the test “isn’t proctored,” a Crossover guide describes a live examiner over webcam, and Criteria’s own site advertises AI proctoring. None of them are wrong. They are describing different setups that different companies picked.
So the accurate answer to “is the CCAT proctored” is: sometimes, and to varying degrees. Treat it as a spectrum. On one end, you get a link, take the test at home, and nothing appears to be monitoring you. On the other, you book a time slot, show ID to a live proctor, share your screen, and stay on camera the whole time. In between sits a large and growing middle ground where no human watches in real time, but software quietly records and analyzes your session for review later.
The three ways the CCAT gets monitored
Here is the full spectrum at a glance, then a closer look at each mode.
| Monitoring mode | Who or what is watching | What it typically records | How you will know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fully unproctored | Nothing in real time | Only your answers and final score | A plain link, take it anytime, no camera or setup |
| AI proctoring | Automated software, no live person | Screen samples, audio samples, photos, tab switches | A system check, webcam permission, on-screen warnings |
| Live human proctoring | A real proctor over video | Live webcam, live screen share, your ID, full session | A scheduled slot, ID upload, a proctor who greets you |
Fully unproctored
This is the setup most first-time takers picture: you get a link, click it when you are ready, and answer the 50 questions with nothing obviously monitoring you. No webcam, no screen share, no appointment. Your employer receives your raw score and percentile, and that is it. Many companies run their first screen this way because it is fast and lets you test whenever it suits you. The catch: “no live proctor” does not always mean “no monitoring.”
AI proctoring
This is the fastest-growing setup and the one most candidates underestimate. No human watches you in real time, but Criteria’s software records and analyzes your session in the background, then hands the employer a report afterward. It feels like an unproctored test while you take it. It is not, and the next section covers exactly what it captures.
Live human proctoring
At the strict end, a real person supervises you over video for the whole test. You book a slot, verify your identity, share your screen, and stay on camera while the proctor confirms you have no notes, phone, calculator, or anyone else in the room. Crossover uses a version of this called the PCCAT, a live-proctored retake that confirms your original score. This mode shows up more often as a verification step than as your first CCAT, and it gets its own section below.
What Criteria AI Proctoring actually records
If your test runs on Criteria AI Proctoring, here is what is happening while you focus on the questions. Per Criteria Corp’s own description of the feature, the system includes:
- Image capture. It automatically takes candidate photos throughout the assessment, designed to detect if someone else takes over partway through.
- Image analysis. AI compares those images to spot inconsistencies, multiple faces, or unauthorized devices in view.
- Screen and audio sampling. It periodically captures your screen and audio to identify unauthorized resources, a second device, or outside assistance.
- Comprehensive reporting. It compiles a report that flags suspicious activity so the employer’s team can review it and decide.
In plain terms, the software watches for tab switching, copy and paste, a phone or second screen, another voice in the room, and any sign that the person finishing is not the one who started. It is automated, not a live human, so nothing kicks you out mid-test. It logs anything unusual and puts it in front of a recruiter after you submit.
Two honest points keep this in perspective. A flag is not an automatic fail: it is information the employer weighs, and one glance away is very different from a report showing a second device feeding answers. And it only matters if you are trying to get help you should not have. Answer honestly, and AI proctoring is just a camera light you can forget about.
The proctored verification retake (why some people take it twice)
Here is the part that confuses candidates most: you pass the CCAT at home, feel relieved, then get told to take it again, this time proctored. That is not a mistake, and it does not mean anyone suspects you. It is a standard verification step some employers build in.
The logic is simple. If your first at-home score reflects your real ability, a supervised second attempt should land in the same neighborhood. If the first score came from outside help, the retake exposes the gap. Crossover is the best-known example: its proctored version, the PCCAT, is taken online like the original but supervised live, with a scheduled slot and an examiner present to keep the session secure. For how that employer runs its full process, see our Crossover CCAT insider guide.
The takeaway is reassuring: aim for a first score your real ability can reproduce. A few points of drop under proctoring is normal from nerves. A large, unexplained collapse is the only thing a verification retake is built to catch. For the mechanics of second attempts and employer retake rules, see can you retake the CCAT.
How to tell whether your CCAT will be proctored
You do not have to guess. The invitation email and setup screens tell you which mode you are in. Look for these signals:
- A scheduled time slot instead of an open link. Booking a specific appointment usually means live proctoring. An anytime link means unproctored or AI-proctored.
- A webcam or microphone permission request. Any prompt to enable your camera or mic means monitoring of some kind.
- A system or equipment check. Instructions to run a compatibility test, close other apps, or use a specific browser point to proctoring being switched on.
- An ID verification step. Being asked to hold up a photo ID is a hallmark of live human proctoring.
- Language in the invite. Wording about a “secure” or “monitored” session, or a warning to stay in the test window, signals proctoring is active.
If none of those appear and you simply get a link with no camera, no appointment, and no setup, you are most likely looking at a fully unproctored screen. When in doubt, reply and ask the recruiter. Knowing the format in advance removes a real source of test-day stress.
