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Search for the HESI A2 and you will find confident, contradictory answers about how long it takes and what score you need. Both sides are usually right, because the HESI A2 is a menu rather than a fixed exam. Elsevier supplies the sections; your nursing programme picks which ones you sit, how long you get and what counts as a pass.
The academic sections
These are the ones programmes most often require, with the question counts we build our practice around:
- Reading Comprehension, about 47 questions
- Vocabulary and General Knowledge, about 50 questions
- Grammar, about 50 questions
- Mathematics, about 50 questions
- Anatomy and Physiology, about 25 questions
- Biology, about 25 questions
- Chemistry, about 25 questions
Physics exists too and is required far less often. Many schools also include the Learning Style and Personality Profile sections, which are not scored and cannot be failed. They take a few minutes and have no effect on admission.
What counts as a pass
There is no national pass mark. In practice most programmes ask for a cumulative score in the 75 to 80 percent range, and many set a separate, higher minimum on Anatomy and Physiology because it predicts performance in the first nursing year better than anything else on the exam. Competitive programmes ask for more, and some rank applicants by score rather than pass or fail them.
How the report reads
You get a percentage for each section you sat, plus a cumulative average. The report also breaks each section into topic areas, which is the part worth keeping: it tells you precisely what to study if you retake, and it is far more useful than the headline number.
Timing
Unlike the TEAS, which runs to a fixed national clock, HESI timing is usually set by your school, commonly around four hours for a full battery of sections. Ask. A programme that gives you four hours for seven sections is a different exam from one that gives you three.
Retakes
Elsevier permits retakes; your programme sets the limits, and those limits are strict more often than not. Common patterns are two or three attempts per application cycle and a waiting period of 30 to 60 days between them. Some schools average your attempts rather than taking the best, which changes the maths on whether a quick retake helps you.
If you are choosing between exams, or your school accepts either, read the TEAS and HESI A2 compared. If you have already committed to the HESI, start with the HESI A2 study guide.