The TEAS is the exam most nursing programs use to decide whether you are academically ready to start. If it turned up on your application checklist and you have not looked into what it actually involves, this article covers it.
Here is the short version. The TEAS 7 is a computer-based entrance exam published by ATI Nursing Education. It has 170 questions across four sections, 150 of which count toward your score, and you get 209 minutes of testing time. It covers reading, math, science, and English at roughly a first-year college level. It does not test nursing knowledge, because you have not learned any yet.
The rest of this article walks through each section, how the scoring works, what score your program is likely to want, and how to prepare without spending six weeks on the wrong material.
Free TEAS Practice Tests
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Practice tests for all four TEAS sections, with detailed answer explanations, written and reviewed by nurse educators.
In This Article:
- What the TEAS test is
- The four sections
- Test day and timing
- How the TEAS is scored
- What counts as a good score
- Where the exam fits in your application
- Cost and retakes
- How to prepare
What the TEAS Test Is
TEAS stands for Test of Essential Academic Skills. Writing it as “the TEAS test” is technically redundant, but it is what almost everyone says, and it is what your program’s admissions page probably says too, so it is what this article uses.
ATI Nursing Education publishes it. Version 7 is current, which is why you will see it written as TEAS 7 or ATI TEAS 7. It is used by nursing programs and by a range of allied health programs as an entrance requirement.
The exam measures academic foundations. Can you read a passage and pull the argument out of it? Can you handle fractions and ratios and unit conversions? Do you remember enough anatomy and chemistry to build on? Do you know how English works well enough to write in a professional setting? That is the whole scope of it.
The TEAS is fixed. Everyone sits the same four sections in the same order, which makes it different from the HESI A2, where your school picks which sections you take. Two applicants to two different programs took the same TEAS.
The Four Sections of the TEAS 7
| Section | Graded and pretest questions | Time | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 45 | 55 minutes | Key ideas and details, craft and structure, integration of knowledge and ideas |
| Mathematics | 38 | 57 minutes | Numbers and algebra, measurement and data |
| Science | 50 | 60 minutes | Human anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, scientific reasoning |
| English and Language Usage | 37 | 37 minutes | Conventions of standard English, knowledge of language, vocabulary acquisition |
| Total | 170 | 209 minutes | 150 questions are graded |
Note: The 20 questions that do not count are pretest items ATI is trialing for future versions of the exam. They are mixed in with the rest and you will not be able to tell which ones they are. Answer everything as though it counts.
Reading
The largest section by question count and the one students most often underestimate. You get passages and you answer questions about them: what the author is arguing, what a specific word means in that context, what the graphic is telling you, how two sources compare.
None of it requires outside knowledge. All of it requires you to slow down enough to actually read, which is harder than it sounds when the clock is running and you have 45 questions and 55 minutes.
Mathematics
Arithmetic and basic algebra. Fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios and proportions, unit conversions, and word problems built around measurement and data. Nothing goes past introductory algebra.
The pacing here is comfortable relative to the other sections, at roughly a minute and a half per question. Use it. The math section is where careful work pays off, because most of the errors students make on it are arithmetic slips rather than gaps in understanding.
Science
The heaviest section, and the one that decides most TEAS scores. Fifty questions in 60 minutes, weighted most heavily toward human anatomy and physiology, with biology, chemistry, and scientific reasoning filling out the rest.
If you have already taken anatomy and physiology, this section will feel like a review. If you have not, it will not. That single fact is the best argument for finishing your science prerequisites before you sit the exam rather than after.
English and Language Usage
The shortest section, at 37 questions in 37 minutes, which gives you a minute each. Grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, and how to work out a word you do not know from its parts.
A minute per question sounds tight and mostly is not, because these questions are short. The risk in this section is fatigue rather than difficulty. It comes last, after nearly three hours of testing.
How Long the TEAS Takes, and What Test Day Looks Like
Plan for a longer day than 209 minutes. That number is testing time only. Check-in, identification, seating, and instructions come on top of it, and the total block is commonly closer to four hours.
You may test at an ATI testing center, at a school site, or remotely with online proctoring, depending on what your program allows. Confirm which option applies to you before you register, because the rules about what you may bring and what your testing space has to look like differ between them.
The calculator is provided. The TEAS gives you a four-function calculator on screen. If the exam is administered on paper, which happens mainly under testing accommodations, the center provides a handheld one.
Important: You may not use any calculator other than the one provided. ATI will disqualify a test taker who does, and you sign a statement acknowledging that before you begin. Practice your arithmetic without a calculator anyway, so that a slow on-screen tool does not cost you the time you needed for the questions.
How the TEAS Is Scored
Your total score is the percentage of the 150 graded questions you answered correctly. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, which means you should never leave a question blank. A guess is worth more than a blank, always.
Your score report gives you more than the total. You get:
- A total score as a percentage
- A score for each of the four sections, so you can see where you were strong and where you were not
- A proficiency level, which is a band ATI assigns based on your total score
- Percentile ranks, showing how you did against other test takers nationally and against others who tested at your program
The percentile rank is the number students most often misread. Scoring in the 75th percentile does not mean you got 75 percent of the questions right. It means you did as well as or better than 75 percent of the people who took the exam. It is a comparison, not a grade.
You typically receive your score immediately after you finish, since the exam is computer-based.
What Counts as a Good TEAS Score
There is no single passing score on the TEAS, because ATI does not set one. Your program does.
That is the honest answer, and it is more useful than a number, because it tells you where to look. The score that matters to you is on your program’s admissions page, not on ATI’s website.
Most programs set a minimum somewhere in the 60 to 75 percent range, with competitive four-year programs sitting at the top of that and some accelerated programs above it.
Two things are worth understanding about that minimum.
The first is that meeting it is not the same as getting in. At a program with more applicants than seats, the published minimum is the floor for being considered, and admitted students routinely score well above it. If your program publishes the average score of admitted students, that number is far more useful to you than the minimum. Chase that one.
The second is that some programs look at section scores as well as the total. For example, ATI’s research has found that students with a higher reading score are more successful in nursing school, but a nursing program may also want higher scores in science. A strong total score with a weak science subscore can still raise a question, particularly at a program that has watched students struggle in their first semester of pathophysiology. Do not assume the total is all anyone sees.
Where the TEAS Fits in Your Nursing School Application
The TEAS is one input among several. Your prerequisite grades, your overall GPA, any healthcare experience, and in some cases an essay or interview all sit alongside it. Programs weigh these differently, and a few weigh the entrance exam heavily enough that it functions as a first cut.
You can find everything you need to complete on the admissions page of the nursing program you are applying to, usually as a checklist of requirements to finish before you apply. The admissions office will also tell you how much weight the exam carries if you ask directly, and the answer changes how much of your remaining time should go to the exam versus everything else.
Not every program uses the TEAS. Some use the HESI A2 instead, which is published by Elsevier and works differently: it is modular, so the school chooses which sections you sit. If you are applying broadly, you may well need both. Our guide to the difference between the HESI A2 and the TEAS 7 walks through how they compare and what changes in your preparation if you have to take each one.
Note: Check every program on your list individually, and do it early. Applying to four schools can easily mean two want the TEAS and two want the HESI. That is manageable in month one and painful in month three.
Cost, Retakes, and Sending Your Scores
Expect roughly $35 to $115, with an additional proctoring fee at some sites.
The spread is wide because you are not really buying from ATI. ATI sells exams to schools in bulk, and each school decides how much of that cost to pass along. Some absorb most of it to keep the barrier low for applicants. So a price difference between two programs usually says more about the school than about the exam.
Retake rules come from your program, not from ATI. Two or three attempts in a 12-month window with a waiting period between them is common, and 30 days is a frequent length for that wait.
The detail worth chasing down before you register is whether your program uses your highest score or your most recent one. That single policy decides whether a retake carries any risk at all, and it is not always obvious on the admissions page. Call and ask.
Score sending works through your ATI account. If you tested at one school and are applying to another, build in time for the transfer rather than discovering the requirement the week your application is due. ATI gives you one free transcript to send to the school you are applying to. If you want your scores sent to other schools, ATI charges $29.99 per transcript.
Free TEAS Practice Tests
Start Studying Before Test Day
Practice tests for all four TEAS sections, with detailed answer explanations, written and reviewed by nurse educators.
How to Prepare for the TEAS
Four to six weeks of focused work is a reasonable target for most students. Here is the order that gets the most out of it.
Start with a full-length practice test, before you study anything. This feels backwards and it is the single most useful thing you can do. You need to know where your weak spots actually are, not where you assume they are. Students routinely discover that the section they were dreading is fine and the one they ignored is the problem.
Then spend most of your time on what the practice test exposed. Not on what you enjoy studying. If science came back weakest, science gets the hours, even though reviewing anatomy is less pleasant than doing math you are already good at.
Practice under time. Knowing the material and answering a timed question with four plausible options in front of you are different skills, and only one of them is the skill the exam measures. Reading a chapter and understanding it does not tell you whether you can do it in 72 seconds.
Do the arithmetic by hand. You will have a calculator, but a four-function on-screen calculator is slow. Every conversion you can do in your head is time returned to the questions that need it. You can also make mistakes on a calculator, so trust what you know and double-check your answers before submitting.
Leave the last few days for review, not new material. Cramming a new topic in the final 48 hours mostly costs you sleep, and sleep is worth more on a four-hour exam than one more pass through chemistry.
A few practical notes for test day:
- Read the question before the passage on Reading. Knowing what you are looking for changes how you read.
- Do not get stuck. Flag the hard one, move on, come back. A question you spend four minutes on costs you two questions elsewhere.
- Eat something first. It is a long sitting, and the English section arrives when you are tired.
- If you are testing remotely, do a full technology check the day before. Not an hour before.
All Healthcare Careers has full-length TEAS 7 practice tests covering all four sections, with a clear explanation for every answer, and every question written and reviewed by nurse educators. Nothing goes live without a nurse educator reviewing it. If you want to find your weak spots before your program sees them, that is the place to start.
The TEAS is a gate, not a verdict on whether you belong in nursing. Find out what your program wants, take an honest practice test, and spend your weeks on whatever it shows you.
