The EEI CAST Test: Sections, Timing and Scoring

The EEI CAST test is four timed paper tests taken in one sitting: Graphic Arithmetic (16 questions in 30 minutes), Mechanical Concepts (44 in 20), Reading for Comprehension (32 in 30) and Mathematical Usage (18 in 7). That is 110 questions and 87 minutes of clock, inside a session the brochure describes as approximately two hours. Results come back as a single index score from 1 to 10.

CAST stands for Construction and Skilled Trades Selection System. EEI's catalog says it is used for jobs in three areas: transmission and distribution, facilities and equipment, and meter reader service and repair. In practice that means line worker, groundman, substation and apprentice trade roles at the utilities that belong to the EEI testing consortium.

The four sections

Test	Questions	Time	Per question
Graphic Arithmetic	16	30 min	112 sec
Mechanical Concepts	44	20 min	27 sec
Reading for Comprehension	32	30 min	56 sec
Mathematical Usage	18	7 min	23 sec
Total	110	87 min

Graphic Arithmetic gives you two drawings and asks arithmetic questions about them. The work is not hard arithmetic; the difficulty is reading a dimensioned drawing accurately and deciding which numbers on it you actually need. Nearly two minutes a question sounds generous until you have misread a drawing twice. Try the Graphic Arithmetic demo to see the shape of it.

Mechanical Concepts is the section that surprises people. Forty-four questions in twenty minutes is twenty-seven seconds each, and the questions are diagram-based: gears, levers, pulleys, belts, fluid pressure, balance and stability. There is no time to derive anything from first principles. This test is about recognizing a configuration instantly, which only comes from volume. It is also the single most reusable thing you can practice, because the same 44-question, 20-minute test appears in CAST-R, POSS, MASS and TECH.

Reading for Comprehension is 32 questions across four passages. The passages are written in the register of workplace documents rather than literature — procedures, bulletins, instructions — and the questions reward finding the sentence that answers them rather than remembering the passage.

Mathematical Usage is the sprint: 18 questions in 7 minutes, about 23 seconds each, built on basic mathematical formulas and conversions. Under that clock, hesitating over whether to multiply or divide is the whole problem. Our Mathematical Usage demo runs at the real pace, which is the point.

Forms, and the CAST-R question

EEI's brochure says two alternate forms of the CAST battery exist. That matters mainly for retakes: a second sitting is not guaranteed to be the paper you saw the first time.

Separately, there is a revised version. CAST-R keeps Graphic Arithmetic, Mechanical Concepts and Reading unchanged and replaces Mathematical Usage with a 105-item Work Preferences Inventory taken in 30 minutes. Employers are inconsistent about which name they use, so if your invitation just says "CAST", do not assume the Mathematical Usage test is there — and do not assume it is not. Our CAST-R guide sets out what changed; CAST-R practice runs the revised order.

Scoring

The four component scores are combined into one index score ranging from 1 to 10. That index is what the employer sees. No utility publishes the level it hires at, and EEI does not either: its brochure says "cutoff scores on the CAST battery can be tailored to local company employment needs", which means the bar is a decision each company makes for itself and keeps internal. Any site telling you the number you need has invented it.

The brochure for the revised battery states plainly that there is no penalty for guessing or wrong answers. Practically, that means you should never leave an answer blank, and when the Mathematical Usage clock is about to run out you should fill the remaining bubbles rather than stop.

How to prepare for it

The CAST rewards pace far more than knowledge, and each section rewards a different kind of pace. A preparation plan that works looks like this:

• Do Mechanical Concepts in blocks of 44 against a real 20-minute clock, not in leisurely tens. The skill you are building is instant recognition, and you only build it under time pressure.
• Do Mathematical Usage in 7-minute bursts. Seven minutes is short enough that you can fit several a day, and the improvement curve is steep.
• Practise Graphic Arithmetic with the drawing on screen rather than on notes, so you get used to hunting values in a diagram.
• Only once the sections feel fast, run the whole thing end to end. Sitting 87 minutes of timed tests is its own skill.

One warning about material you find online: several question counts and time limits circulating on prep sites are not the real test's parameters at all. They are the parameters of EEI's own practice exercises, which are deliberately shorter. The figures on this page come from the brochure that describes the real battery, published by an employer.

Frequently asked questions

How long is the CAST test?

87 minutes of timed testing across the four tests, in a session EEI's brochure describes as approximately two hours once instructions, forms and a break are added. Some employers say to allow two and a half hours.

Is the CAST test hard?

The content is not advanced — the arithmetic is arithmetic, and the mechanical questions are about everyday physical principles. The difficulty is entirely in the timing, and above all in the 44-question Mechanical Concepts test and the 7-minute Mathematical Usage test.

Can I use a calculator on the CAST?

It depends on the employer and the section. EEI's brochure for the revised battery permits a calculator on Graphic Arithmetic; the original CAST brochure says nothing either way. Employers differ — Southern California Edison bans personal calculators along with every other electronic device and says it provides all necessary equipment. We go through what each employer publishes. Assume you will not have one unless yours tells you otherwise.

What score do you need to pass the CAST test?

Nobody publishes one. EEI reports an index from 1 to 10 and says cutoffs are tailored to local company needs, so the level that gets you forward is set by the utility you applied to and is not made public. Treat any specific figure you see online as invented.

How many questions are on the CAST test?

110 across the four tests of the original battery. The revised CAST-R battery has 197 items, because the 105-item Work Preferences Inventory replaces the 18-question Mathematical Usage test.