Cycle Note
SY2025-26 cycle (most recent published as of 2026-07-02; FCPS notes all dates pending school board approval; 2026-27 dates not yet posted)
FCPS gifted program
FCPS AAP eligibility, testing, and cutoff facts.
A structured, official-source guide to Fairfax County Public Schools Advanced Academic Programs: what test FCPS names, how screening enters the portfolio, what FCPS does and does not publish, and where to confirm details.
NGATPaper CogAT accommodationWISC-V accommodationExternal scores accepted
Last verified: July 2, 2026
FCPS gifted screening at a glance
- District
- Fairfax County Public Schools
- Program
- Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)
- Tests named
- NGAT (Naglieri General Ability Tests) — FCPS's online ability test for grades 2-7, adopted SY2025-26; 3 subtests (verbal, nonverbal, quantitative); replaces CogAT (formerly all grade 2) and NNAT3 (formerly all grade 1); Paper CogAT — offered only as an accommodation for students whose disability/health condition requires a paper format; WISC-V (Verbal Comprehension Index + Auditory Working Memory Index) — only for students with visual impairments who cannot access online NGAT or paper CogAT
- Grades tested / screened
- Grade 2: universal automatic NGAT-based screener referral (~top 10% by local building norms; national norm component also used) — NGAT administered October (all grade 2) with a March window for students still needing a score. Grades 3-7: referral-only for Full-Time (Level IV) screening (staff, parent/guardian, or self-referral). K-6: all students screened for Part-Time/Subject-Specific services via multiple measures in a spring (May) window, or by referral any time. Grades 7-12: no identification process — Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment are open enrollment.
- Universal vs referral
- Both. Grade 2 has the universal screener pathway (~top 10% by local norms) for Full-Time (Level IV) screening, but FCPS explicitly states ~70% of students screened for Full-Time placement come through the staff/family REFERRAL pathway, and being in the universal-screener pool confers no advantage — both pathways feed the identical holistic portfolio review by the central screening committee.
- Last verified
- July 2, 2026
Published FCPS AAP windows and decision points
Full Time Referral Window Spring Cycle
Aug 18/23 – Dec 15, 2025 — no exceptions to the deadline
Fall Cycle New Students
Referral due Oct 15, 2025; Central Screening Committee meets Dec 2025; decisions sent Dec 2025; appeals due Jan 8, 2026; eligible students may start Full-Time AAP Feb 2, 2026
Spring Cycle Main
Grade-2 universal-screener candidates announced early Dec 2025; referral/optional-materials deadline Dec 15, 2025; Central Screening Committee meets March 2026; decisions sent early April 2026; orientations April 13–May 1, 2026; appeals due May 1, 2026; eligible students begin Full-Time AAP fall 2026
NGAT Windows
October 2025 (all Grade 2, plus grades 3-7 with no score/central-eligible, plus approved retakes) and March 2026 (select grades 2-7 in central screening; no retakes in this window); one-time NGAT retake requests due Sept 30, 2025 (one retake per student)
Part Time Subject Specific
Spring screening window in May; local school notifies family within ~30 school days; referral possible any time outside the window
Private Homeschool
Two windows/year: Fall file postmarked by Nov 14, 2025 ($100 fee); decisions by Dec 30, 2025; appeals due Jan 8, 2026. Spring file postmarked by Jan 26, 2026; decisions early April 2026; appeals due May 1, 2026
Eligibility Persistence
Full-Time eligibility, once granted, is retained through 8th grade; Transfer/Reactivation form for deferred students due May 15 for the following school year
FCPS does not publish a single AAP cutoff.
FCPS says the Full-Time AAP portfolio is reviewed holistically and that no part of the portfolio is weighted. Test scores are considered, but not treated as a public pass/fail cutoff.
That missing cutoff is not an omission on this guide. It is the district published framing of the screening process.
AAP levels and service tiers
Access to Rigor (K-6, all students): critical/creative-thinking lessons + AAP curriculum access, no identification needed
Level II — Subject-Specific Services (K-6): AART-supported enrichment in one area of academic strength, in the general-ed classroom
Level III — Part-Time Services (grades 3-6): AART-led pull-out or co-teaching in multiple content areas
Level IV — Full-Time Services (grades 3-8): full-time AAP curriculum at a designated Local or Center school; eligibility determined centrally
Middle school (7-8): Honors coursework, open enrollment, no identification process
High school (9-12): Honors, AP, IB, Dual Enrollment — all open enrollment
What FCPS says about appeals
Full-Time AAP appeals must include new information that was not in the original file. Spring-cycle appeals are mailed to the AAP office by the published deadline, and the appeal decision is final for that cycle.
The useful FCPS-specific details
FCPS is unusual in this set because the universal screener is not the main entry point for most Full-Time AAP files, and the current NGAT rollout sits beside older FCPS pages that still mention the prior NNAT/CogAT language.
About 70% of students screened for Full-Time AAP come through staff/family referral, not the automatic Grade 2 universal screener — FCPS actively tells parents not to wait for a universal-screener announcement and to submit a referral directly if interested.
FCPS switched its universally-administered ability test from CogAT/NNAT3 to the online NGAT starting SY2025-26 — but at least one official FCPS 'Screening Process' page still describes the Grade 2 pathway using old NNAT/CogAT language (as of 2026-07-02), a same-domain inconsistency worth flagging to families.
FCPS still accepts externally-obtained private ability test scores (CogAT, NNAT, WISC-V, DAS-II from a licensed psychologist or GMU's Cognitive Assessment Program) as optional referral-portfolio material, even though it no longer administers CogAT/NNAT district-wide.
Private/homeschool Fairfax County residents get exactly two annual windows to apply for Full-Time AAP by mail, with a non-refundable $100 processing fee (check/money order only).
No single measure determines eligibility; FCPS explicitly declines to publish a cutoff score or percentile — that is the documented policy, not an omission.
Full-Time AAP eligibility persists through 8th grade even if a family defers; reactivate via Transfer/Reactivation Form (due May 15 for the next school year).
Updates
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FCPS parent questions
What test does FCPS use for AAP screening?
For the 2025-26 cycle, FCPS identifies the NGAT as its online ability test for Grade 2 and select students in grades 3-7. FCPS lists paper CogAT only as an accommodation for students who require a paper format.
Does FCPS publish an AAP cutoff score?
No. FCPS states that Full-Time AAP screening is holistic, that no part of the screening portfolio is weighted, and that test scores are not weighted more heavily than other evidence.
Should parents wait for the Grade 2 universal screener pool?
No. FCPS says about 70% of students screened for Full-Time AAP come through the staff or family referral pathway. Families interested in screening should follow the published referral deadline rather than waiting for an automatic-pool notice.
What happens if a child is found ineligible for Full-Time AAP?
FCPS allows a Full-Time AAP appeal for ineligible students, but the appeal must include new information that was not in the original screening file. The appeal committee decision is final for that cycle.
Does FCPS AAP eligibility expire?
FCPS says Full-Time AAP eligibility, once granted, is retained through 8th grade. Families who defer placement use the transfer/reactivation process for a later school year.
Official FCPS sources used
- program overview, continuum, NGAT 'Testing Updates for 2025-26', referral window, office contact, private/homeschool windows
- screening pathways, 70% referral-pathway stat, holistic portfolio elements
- NGAT structure/administration, accommodated alternatives, score report format
- full SY2025-26 testing & identification timeline, retake deadline
- Part-Time/Subject-Specific and Full-Time process steps, appeal note
- private/homeschool timeline, $100 fee, accepted external tests, committee process, appeals
Naglieri General Ability Tests™ (NGAT) is a trademark of Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS), used here for identification purposes only. Reasonwell Press is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by MHS or Dr. Jack Naglieri, and MHS was not involved in producing our materials. Our practice materials are original NGAT-style items, not actual test questions, and do not guarantee any score or placement outcome.
CogAT® and Cognitive Abilities Test™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of Riverside Assessments, LLC (Riverside Insights), used here for identification purposes only. Reasonwell Press is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by Riverside Insights, and Riverside Insights was not involved in producing our materials. Our practice materials are original CogAT®-style items, not actual test questions, and do not guarantee any score or placement outcome.
NNAT® is a registered trademark of NCS Pearson, Inc., used here for identification purposes only. Reasonwell Press is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by NCS Pearson, Inc., which was not involved in producing our materials. Our practice materials are original NNAT®-style items, not actual test questions, and do not guarantee any score or placement outcome.