TEAS vs HESI A2: Which entrance exam should you take?

Your nursing or allied-health program chooses the exam, and the two aren't interchangeable: a TEAS score can't stand in for a HESI A2 score, or the reverse, unless a program says it accepts either. Find your situation first.

Which one do you need?

Your program's written requirements control. ATI explains what to confirm before registration; Cizik's admission page shows why the applicant pathway and any exemption matter.

TEAS vs HESI A2 at a glance

This compares ATI TEAS Version 7 with Elsevier's HESI Admission Assessment (A2) for U.S. nursing and allied-health admissions. Castleport Test Prep Editorial Team · Last verified September 21, 2026

The listed prices are route examples, not a national price comparison. Count applicable taxes, required local fees, extra score deliveries, and any planned retake without counting an included charge twice. A cheaper sitting is not a saving if your program won't accept it.

A few conditions that sit beside this table: approved accommodations can change testing arrangements on either exam, and ATI says most TEAS accommodation requests need at least 30 days' notice. If your school administers the older TEAS Version 4, ATI says those scores count only at the school that gave it. ATI registration and accommodations guidance · HESI time-accommodation guide

Sources for this table: ATI TEAS Version 7 content outline (pp. 1–6), ATI exam details, ATI guidance on sections and timing, scoring, retakes, registration rules, cost, and transcripts; Elsevier's September 2022 HESI A2 overview (pp. 3–5, Table 1), HESI A2 faculty guide (pp. 3 and 10–13), and remote-proctoring registration instructions; and the program pages from Cizik, Pensacola State, and Scottsdale CC.

The TEAS section clocks

The 20 unscored questions are included in the total-question column. The optional 10-minute break is separate from the 209 minutes of testing time. You can review answers within the current section while time remains, but you can't return after submitting it, and unused time doesn't carry over. Approved accommodations can change these standard limits. ATI outline · ATI timing rules

Common comparison claims to check

• "ATI makes you wait 14 days to retake the TEAS." ATI's retake article, checked September 21, 2026, says ATI sets no waiting period. Your program may still set one.
• "The TEAS always costs about $70 to $81." ATI's cost page lists $120 plus tax for its own remote exam and for PSI. School prices vary.
• "The HESI A2 always has eight sections and 326 to 350 questions." Elsevier's 2022 overview describes seven academic exams with 275 scored items if all seven are assigned. That does not establish a universal on-screen total: programs select sections and may include other components. Scored-item totals and total questions are different measures.
• "HESI A2 scores run from 100 to 1000." Elsevier reports academic performance as percentages. If a program lists a scaled number, check which component it applies to; do not apply it to the academic composite. Academic scoring
• "The TEAS calculator only shows up in Math," or "the HESI A2 is in-person only." ATI says its calculator is available in every section, and Elsevier publishes a ProctorU remote route for programs that use it.

What carries over if you switch exams

Only the rows for HESI exams your program actually assigns apply to you. If your HESI setup skipped Biology and Chemistry, for example, the TEAS will still test both — plus scientific reasoning. Read “add” below as “check your preparation and fill any gap,” not as proof the topic was absent from your previous exam. Elsevier's short subject descriptions are not exclusion lists.

This map is our topic-level comparison of *ATI's TEAS Version 7 content outline* and the exam descriptions in *Elsevier's September 2022 HESI A2 overview* (Table 1). It isn't based on actual test items, and Elsevier describes each exam only briefly — so treat "transfers well" as a starting point, not a guarantee. The ratings are our editorial judgment.

Switching from the TEAS to the HESI A2

1. Get your program's HESI section list before you study anything else.
2. If Vocabulary and General Knowledge is on it, give it a separate study block. Start with it if vocabulary is one of your weak spots.
3. In Grammar, practice naming parts of speech and grammar terms, not just fixing errors.
4. In Math, drill household measures.
5. If Biology is assigned, check water, metabolism, and photosynthesis. If Chemistry is assigned, check the periodic table, bonding, and chemical equations. Fill any gaps.
6. Ask whether Critical Thinking, Learning Style, or a Personality Profile is assigned.
7. Spend less time repeating topics you already handle well, not topics you assume HESI excludes. Keep any TEAS-specific objectives on your plan if another program on your list still needs the TEAS.

For more program examples, see our HESI A2 preparation and school-requirements page. Use your own program's current written requirements to complete the worksheet below.

Switching from the HESI A2 to the TEAS

Keep the topics you already know. Use this list to identify gaps, especially if your HESI assignment omitted science.

1. Plan for all four sections. The TEAS has no option to take only the sections your school cares about.
2. Add algebra: one-variable equations and inequalities in word problems.
3. Add data work — tables, graphs, basic statistics — plus basic geometry and metric conversions.
4. In Reading, add charts and graphs, arguments, multiple sources, fact vs. opinion, and author's purpose.
5. In Science, add scientific reasoning, genetics and microorganisms in Biology, and solutions, acids, and bases in Chemistry.
6. In English, add spelling, punctuation, audience, and paragraph organization — at about 60 seconds per question.
7. Practice select-all-that-apply, hot spot, ordered response, and fill-in-the-blank items so the formats aren't new on test day.

For the full topic list, use ATI's TEAS Version 7 content outline.

Is the TEAS or the HESI A2 harder?

The official sources used here don't establish that either exam is universally harder. Their scores aren't interchangeable. The harder exam for you depends on which required topics hit your weak spots, under your program's setup and score rule. ATI scoring · HESI academic overview

Here's what the evidence does show:

• The same school can set very different numbers. The University of St. Thomas ABSN requires 80% in the required HESI sections or 78% in the required TEAS sections. Cizik recommends 85% or higher on each HESI section but 60% or higher on the TEAS. Those gaps reflect different scoring and different rules. They don't prove one exam is easier.
• The HESI A2 isn't one size. Among programs named on this page, Pensacola State's LPN applicants take three academic exams, Scottsdale CC's applicants take four, Pensacola's RN applicants take five, and Cizik's take all seven. The TEAS is always 170 questions.
• The clocks matter. The TEAS gives you 209 minutes for 170 questions — about 74 seconds each, and exactly 60 in English (37 questions, 37 minutes). Those are averages, not a per-question timer. HESI's published estimates use scored items, whereas 170 includes TEAS's unscored questions. They are not a like-for-like pace comparison. Use your assigned HESI session length instead. ATI timing · Elsevier estimates · HESI settings (Our TEAS averages are calculated from the published times and total questions.)
• Each one bites in a different place. The TEAS gives everyone algebra, data and graphs, scientific reasoning, and five question formats. The HESI A2 can add 100 scored vocabulary and grammar items when both exams are assigned — the TEAS's whole English section has 33 — and, when assigned, its Chemistry exam alone has 25 scored items to the TEAS's 8. More questions do not, by themselves, prove greater difficulty. ATI outline · Elsevier Table 1

Someone's "the HESI was easier" is not a difficulty rating for your assigned exam. Check yours against the carryover map.

If your program accepts either exam

Here are two programs that publish an either/or rule. These are examples, not a national admission standard:

Checked September 21, 2026, on each program's own pages. Rules can change each application cycle, so confirm yours.

St. Thomas's wording says within 30 days, not wait at least 30 days. Confirm the permitted retest date with its admissions office before booking; the page's two separate attempt statements do not establish a shared four-attempt allowance. Cizik exempts applicants who complete its required Pre-Nursing science prerequisites and meet its direct-admission requirements. Its outside-school HESI restriction applies from the Summer 2024 applicant cycle onward. St. Thomas requirements · Cizik requirements

How to choose:

1. Read the program's rule for each exam. Compare what each rule demands — every section vs. a total, required vs. recommended — not the size of the numbers.
2. Find out which HESI sections the program requires. Cizik requires all seven.
3. Check whether attempts count across both exams. At Cizik, switching exams doesn't reset your count, and your last attempt replaces the one before it.
4. Match the exam to your strengths. Compare your recent mistakes with the topics actually required. TEAS explicitly includes algebra, data, and scientific reasoning; a HESI assignment can include separate vocabulary, grammar, and science exams. Choose based on the gaps you need to close, not the assumption that HESI excludes a topic its short overview doesn't name. (That's our editorial read of the carryover map, not a rule.)
5. Look at your other applications. An accepted result that also works for another program can save you a sitting; the sections, score age, and testing route still have to count.
6. Check dates, testing routes, and total cost before the deadline.
7. Use practice to find gaps before you commit. ATI offers a free online TEAS practice test. Compare what you miss with the content map above and your required HESI sections. A practice percentage is feedback on those questions, not a comparable official score or a forecast that you will meet a program's cutoff.

Applying to programs that use different exams

1. List each program's exam, sections, score rule, attempt rule, and deadline. The questions below collect all of it.
2. Study the shared core first: reading comprehension, arithmetic and proportions, and anatomy and physiology where both assignments include it. Then work through the switching list for whichever exam comes first. (Our editorial advice.)
3. Book the exam with the earlier deadline first, leaving room for a retake if your program allows one.
4. One TEAS sitting can go to several TEAS programs through transcript credits — as long as each one accepts how you tested. ATI warns that some schools accept only in-person exams on their own campus and won't take a remote transcript.
5. One HESI sitting can serve several HESI programs only if it includes every section each program requires and each program accepts scores taken under another school's registration. Pensacola State says it can accept outside HESI scores under its testing center's policies; Cizik says it won't. Confirm before you test.
6. Don't use a real attempt as practice. ATI says every TEAS sitting counts as an attempt whether or not you send the score, and schools can see your attempt history. Some programs, like Cizik, count TEAS and HESI attempts together.

Confirm these with each program before you pay

Ask these questions for every program on your list. Skip any your program's current written instructions already answer. Copy or print this worksheet once per program and record those written answers in the last column. An empty answer is not evidence that there is no requirement.

The institutional examples above support the “why it matters” column; they do not fill in another program's answers. Cizik · Pensacola State · ATI registration rules · Elsevier exam settings

Message for an admissions or testing office

Copy this message and add your program, entry term, and applicant pathway. Delete questions the current written instructions already answer.

Subject: Entrance-exam requirements

Hello,

I am confirming the entrance-exam requirements for my application.

Program and entry term:

Applicant pathway:

Which entrance examination, version, and testing routes do you accept? Does an exemption apply to my pathway?

If I take HESI A2, which academic sections and additional components must I complete? What scores are required versus recommended, and must they come from one sitting?

What are the test and score-receipt deadlines, accepted score age and measurement date, attempt limit, waiting period or retest window, and rule for choosing a result? Do TEAS and HESI attempts share a cap?

Do you accept results taken for another institution? Please confirm the authorized registration instructions and code, total required fees, exam-day time and calculator rules, and the accommodations contact where relevant.

Thank you.

More TEAS vs HESI A2 questions

Can I use a TEAS score for a HESI A2 program, or convert one score to the other?

A TEAS score can satisfy the requirement only if the program accepts it. Use the program's separate rules for each exam rather than converting one percentage into the other. ATI adjusts TEAS scores for differences between test forms, while Elsevier averages percentage scores from the HESI academic exams you took. The sources used here do not provide a validated cross-exam conversion.

Is the HESI A2 the same as the HESI Exit Exam or the NCLEX?

No. The HESI A2 is an admission exam you take before nursing school. HESI Exit exams are separate program assessments, while the NCLEX is a nursing licensure exam. Taking an entrance exam does not grant a nursing license. Elsevier HESI overview · NCSBN: about the NCLEX If you need the NCLEX, start with our NCLEX-RN exam prep page.

Is there Physics on either exam?

There is no separate Physics section on TEAS Version 7, and Physics isn't one of the seven academic exams in Elsevier's 2022 HESI A2 overview. Some program pages still mention Physics, so if yours does, ask exactly what it requires. ATI outline · Elsevier academic overview · Cizik's additional-section FAQ Our HESI A2 page covers the Physics question in more detail.

Is there a TEAS 8 or a new HESI A2?

As of September 21, 2026, ATI identifies Version 7 as the current exam. The official sources checked here do not establish a Version 8 launch or transition date. HESI's Version 1 and Version 2 in the faculty guide and Cizik instructions identify first-attempt and repeat forms, not annual edition changes.

Which exam do more schools use?

The sources used here don't provide an independent national count, so we won't guess. Claims that one exam is "more widely accepted" won't change your situation. Your own programs' requirements will.

I haven't picked schools yet. Which should I study for?

Start with what both exams share: reading comprehension and arithmetic with fractions, decimals, and proportions. Anatomy and physiology can also transfer when it is assigned on HESI. Hold off on exam-specific study until each program confirms which exam it wants. (Our editorial study-order advice, based on the content map above.)

Sources and how we checked

Last verified September 21, 2026: ATI's cited Version 7 structure and owner policies, Elsevier's cited HESI documentation, and the institutional examples shown here. Program rules change by application cycle, so your program's current written requirements control.

ATI (TEAS)

• ATI TEAS Version 7 Content Outline (©2022), pp. 1–6: sections, time limits, scored counts, and topic objectives
• ATI TEAS Exam Details: questions and unscored items per section, question formats, and current Version 7 labels
• TEAS sections, timing, and going back: section order, break, calculator, full-exam retakes
• How the ATI TEAS is scored: equated total and section scores
• How soon can I retake the ATI TEAS?: no ATI waiting period
• What to know before you register: testing routes, attempt counting, score validity, accommodations, Version 4
• Cost of the ATI TEAS: exam fees, included transcript, $29.99 extra transcripts
• How to submit ATI TEAS transcripts: $29.99 additional transcript credits; some schools refuse outside or remote scores
• ATI calculator rules: on-screen calculator in every section and proctor-supplied calculator for paper exams
• ATI score-age guidance: school-specific acceptance windows

Elsevier (HESI A2)

• 2022 Scientific Evidence for the HESI Admission Assessment (A2) (September 2022), pp. 3–5 and Table 1: the seven academic exams, scored items, time estimates, composite score, versions for repeat testing, program choice of exams
• HESI A2/ALC Remote Proctoring with ProctorU — student registration instructions: remote route and program-supplied course ID
• HESI A2 Exam Process Faculty Guide, pp. 3, 10–13, and 22–23: retest forms, selected sections, adjustable duration, calculator controls, and percentage results
• HESI NG Time Accommodations Faculty Guide, printed p. 3: adjustable individual time accommodations

Programs (examples only, not national rules)

• University of St. Thomas ABSN requirements
• Cizik School of Nursing Pacesetter BSN: HESI page and TEAS page
• Pensacola State College HESI-A2 page
• Scottsdale Community College HESI A2 page

Other official references: ATI's section-timing guidance, ATI's free practice-test page, Elsevier's HESI family overview, and NCSBN's NCLEX explanation.

Our math and our judgment. The TEAS pace averages, the HESI all-seven-subject totals, and the item comparisons are our arithmetic from the published numbers above. HESI's 2022 completion estimates are not a universal testing limit. The carryover ratings, the "how to choose" read, and the study-order advice are our editorial judgment, and they're labeled that way where they appear.

This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed above. See how Castleport verifies exam claims and our corrections log.

Castleport Test Prep is an independent publisher. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by Assessment Technologies Institute, L.L.C. (ATI), Elsevier, or any school named on this page. Exam names such as ATI TEAS and HESI are used to identify the exams discussed; trademarks belong to their respective owners. This page doesn't determine admission or guarantee any exam result.