I am referring to tests associated with testing verbal, abstract and numerical intelligence (not IQ tests, but tests that would often be used by employers/tests like the GCSE's and the SAT's). I recently took a couple of those tests (on several websites) and found to my astonishment that I was absolutely horrible at them. I scored 15th percentile verbal intelligence/reasoning, 10th percentile abstract intelligence/reasoning, and 45th percentile numerical intelligence/reasoning (these would be average scores across all websites. I don't exactly know which demographic I was measured against). I am a 16 year old male from Norway if that is any help.

The results I got for numerical intelligence did not really surprise me given the fact that I almost flunked my math class a couple of years ago (mainly due to laziness). However, the 15th percentile verbal and 10th percentile abstract intelligence was highly surprising to me. How can it be that verbal intelligence, a highly necessary trait for subjects like philosophy, history/government and English, is one of my weakest traits, when I aced all of these subjects with a minimal amount of work (aside from the obvious work necessary to be able to regurgitate facts for standardized tests of course, though that is hardly a measure of intelligence so much as a measure of industriousness)? I would also imagine a basic abstract intellect would be necessary to do well on those topics too, especially given the fact that my good grades are hardly a result of hard work, but rather, as many of my teachers tell me, and I am paraphrasing, a result of "exceptional reflective abilities (indicating verbal intelligence) and ability to look at data and events from an original and interesting perspective (indicating abstract capabilities)".

I am also extremely high in the big 5 personality trait openness (99th percentile) which measures interest in abstract ideas and artistic inclinations. How can I be so low in verbal intelligence and abstract intelligence, yet be so inclined towards abstract ideas, while also being pretty good at verbalizing those ideas? Thinking abstractly and reflectively is almost my only state of mind.. When watching movies I can barely go a couple of minutes without thinking about its philosophical and symbolic implications. I love reading complex fiction and non-fiction. Reading Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow or Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil is my definition of a fun time. Having five hour long conversations with close friends about morality, literature, movies, philosophy, politics and art is my definition of time well spent. Is there not a weird disparity between my results on these psychometric tests contrasted with my intellectual inclinations and school performance?

I am very glad I am Norwegian, because if my future were to be decided by these so called intelligence tests I would be in very big trouble, and would likely have to work in a practical field rather than a theoretical field (the theoretical field of study being that which I am aiming for, as I have absolutely ZERO interest in doing practical work).

Anyways, my question is: How in the world can there be such a disparity between the results I get on these tests, and the results I get at school, as well as the apparently very high ability that other people place on my thinking faculties contrasted with the very low ability these tests place on my thinking faculties?
What, if not intelligence, is causing teachers to give me such praise in the faculties that these psychometric tests categorize me as intellectually impaired, and how can my highest percentile be in numerical intelligence/reasoning (arguably, my worst real life intellectual quality)?