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The WAIS IQ Test: How the Wechsler Adult Scale Works
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The WAIS, or Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, is a clinical IQ test for adults published by Pearson. A qualified examiner gives it one to one, and it reports a full-scale IQ together with separate index scores for different kinds of thinking. Its fifth edition, the WAIS-5, covers ages 16:0 to 90:111.
What is the WAIS?
The WAIS is the adult member of the Wechsler family of intelligence tests. Pearson describes the WAIS-5 as an individually administered clinical instrument for assessing cognitive ability1.
Its roots go back to David Wechsler’s first adult scale, the Wechsler-Bellevue, which gave separate verbal and performance IQs as well as an overall IQ. The WAIS replaced it in 1955, and later editions followed, including the WAIS-IV in 20082. Pearson lists the WAIS-5’s publication date as 20241.
Wechsler’s lasting contribution was how adults are scored. Early tests compared a child’s mental age with real age, which makes no sense for grown-ups. Wechsler instead compared each adult with the spread of scores in their own age group, so someone exactly at the middle of their age group gets 1006. That deviation IQ is now used by every modern test.
What is the WAIS used for?
Pearson says the WAIS-5 is widely used in clinical, educational, correctional and pharmaceutical research settings, and in government1. Most adults who take it do so as part of a clinical or educational assessment, where a psychologist wants a detailed picture of their thinking rather than one number.
It also counts outside the clinic. American Mensa accepts a Wechsler full-scale IQ of 130 for admission, as long as the test was given in its entirety7. The rest of that route is covered in our Mensa IQ test guide.
Who can give the WAIS?
Only a qualified professional. Pearson rates the WAIS-5 at qualification level C, the highest of its three levels3. Level C tests are sold to three groups3:
- people with a doctorate in psychology, education or a closely related field, plus formal training in clinical assessment;
- people licensed or certified by their state in a related field;
- members of professional bodies that require assessment training.
In practice that means psychologists and similarly trained professionals. The examiner gives the subtests, scores them against the norms and writes the report.
What does the WAIS-5 measure?
The WAIS-5 measures five broad areas, each reported as a primary index score1. In plain words, roughly:
- Verbal comprehension: reasoning with words and what you know about them.
- Visual spatial: understanding and putting together visual and spatial information.
- Fluid reasoning: working out rules and relationships in new problems.
- Working memory: holding information in mind and working with it.
- Processing speed: working quickly and accurately on simple tasks.
The full-scale IQ comes from 7 of the subtests, and all 10 primary subtests are needed for the five index scores1. Pearson also lists additional indexes, among them quantitative reasoning and expanded crystallized and fluid scores. The WAIS-5 was normed together with the WMS-5 memory scale, so the two can be compared directly1. A wider view of how batteries like this are put together is in what is on an IQ test.
How is the WAIS-5 different from the WAIS-IV?
The clearest change is in the middle layer of scores. The WAIS-IV’s core battery of 10 subtests gave a full-scale IQ and 4 index scores2. It reported visual and reasoning tasks together as one perceptual reasoning index, while the WAIS-5 splits them into separate visual spatial and fluid reasoning indexes1.
Pearson also names new subtests, updated norms, a shorter testing time and new index scores for people with expressive language or motor problems1. Comparing an older WAIS-IV report with a newer WAIS-5 report? Expect different index names and somewhat different label words, so compare the numbers and percentiles rather than the labels.
What do WAIS scores mean?
WAIS composite scores, including the full-scale IQ, use a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 152. So 100 is the middle of your age group, 115 is one standard deviation above it, and 85 one below.
Every score comes with a range. Pearson’s WAIS-5 sample report, for example, shows a full-scale IQ of 111 with a 95% range of 106 to 116. Its standard error of measurement is 3.00 points4.
The words attached to scores depend on the edition. WAIS-IV reports used what is now called the traditional wording5:
| Score range | Traditional wording (WAIS-IV) | Share of people |
|---|---|---|
| 130 and above | Very Superior | 2.5% |
| 120 to 129 | Superior | 7.2% |
| 110 to 119 | High Average | 16.6% |
| 90 to 109 | Average | 49.5% |
| 80 to 89 | Low Average | 15.6% |
| 70 to 79 | Borderline | 6.5% |
| 69 and below | Extremely Low | 2.1% |
WAIS-5 reports use other words again: in Pearson’s sample report, scores of 124 and 126 are called “Very high”, while 111 and 115 are called “Above average”4. We have not seen the full WAIS-5 table, so we do not print one. Every band and both common label systems are on the IQ scale.
How long does the WAIS take?
About 45 minutes for the 7 subtests behind the full-scale IQ, and about 60 minutes for all 10 primary subtests1. That is testing time only. A full assessment can also include an interview, other tests chosen for the question at hand, scoring time and a feedback meeting. Ask the provider how long the whole appointment will be.
Where can you take a WAIS IQ test?
You take the WAIS with a psychologist or another qualified examiner, usually in person. In the United States, the APA’s Psychologist Locator lists licensed psychologists who are APA members8. When you contact one, ask:
- Which edition do you use, WAIS-IV or WAIS-5?
- Will the report show the full-scale IQ, the index scores and their ranges?
- What does the fee include: testing, scoring, a written report, a feedback session?
Fees are set by each provider, and we found no primary source for a typical price. The routes and what each costs are compared in what an IQ test costs. Below age 16 the Wechsler test for the job is a children’s one, the WISC-V, which covers ages 6:0 to 16:119.
Can you take the WAIS online?
Not as a self-test. The WAIS is sold only to qualified professionals, and a score only means something when the test is given under its standard rules by an examiner. Pearson does publish guidance for professionals who give the WAIS-5 by telepractice1. That is still a live session with a qualified examiner, not a test you can find and take alone.
Anything online calling itself a free WAIS is, at best, an imitation. We never reproduce WAIS items or answers.
How does the WAIS compare with our test?
They are different tools. The WAIS is a full clinical battery: an examiner, 10 primary subtests covering five areas, and norms from a large standardization sample. Our test is a 30-question online reasoning test of up to 25 minutes, with no examiner, no verbal or memory subtests, and provisional norms.
So our result is an estimate of reasoning only, with a wider range: for a result of 100, a 90% range of about 88 to 112. It cannot stand in for a WAIS, and it is not accepted anywhere a WAIS is required. What it can do is give you a free, quick sense of your reasoning; you can take it here.
FAQ
Is the WAIS the same as the WISC?
No. Both are Wechsler tests published by Pearson, but the WISC-V is the children’s version, for ages 6:0 to 16:119, and the WAIS is for adults from 16:0 to 90:111. Parents can read more in our guide to IQ tests for kids.
What is a good WAIS score?
The scale does not grade people. A full-scale IQ from 90 to 109 is in the average band, where about 49.5% of people score, and higher or lower scores are simply less common. Read any WAIS score together with its range and the index scores beneath it.
Can you study for the WAIS?
There is nothing legitimate to study, and practicing on leaked items would only make the result meaningless. The fairest preparation is ordinary: sleep well, bring glasses or hearing aids if you use them, and tell the examiner about anything that might affect your performance on the day.