How to read your TEAS test results

The five parts of your TEAS score report

ATI calls your score report the Individual Performance Profile. Whether you tested at home, at a school or at a PSI center, it has the same building blocks. Read it top to bottom in this order.

Total score: why you can't calculate it yourself

Your total score is not simply the percent you got right. ATI uses a statistical process called equating: it converts your raw points into the total score in a way that adjusts for differences in difficulty between forms of the test. That keeps a score on an easier form comparable to a score on a harder one.

Because of equating, ATI says the total and content area scores cannot be calculated directly from anything else on the report. It is also why your four content area scores do not add up to, or average out to, your total.

Two more facts that confuse people. Only 150 of the 170 questions count; 20 are unscored pretest items spread across the sections. And if you do not complete all four content areas, ATI gives no total score at all, because the total uses items from all four.

Academic preparedness levels and their score ranges

The preparedness level is a label for your total score. ATI's TEAS 7 score explanation lists these ranges.

Map this to the goals in this week's r/prenursing threads. A 74% is Proficient. Aiming for 90+ means aiming for the top of Advanced, and 95+ is solidly Exemplary. The level is not a pass or fail; your school decides what it requires.

Means and percentile ranks: reading the bars

Next to each score, the report shows comparisons. The national mean is the average score of all examinees. The program mean is the average for examinees in your program type, such as ADN or BSN. Your percentile rank is the percentage of examinees who scored at or below you, shown nationally and within your program type.

The same sample shows Reading 80.9%, Math 87.5%, Science 66.0% and English 79.2%. Science is the clear weak spot, and it is also the section with the most scored items: 44.

Topics to Review: where your retake points are

The last pages list each sub-content area with its number of items and the percent you answered correctly, followed by the objectives to review. Sub-content percentages are raw percent correct with no equating, so ATI warns against comparing them across forms.

Here is how the 150 scored TEAS 7 items break down, per ATI.

Is my score good enough?

ATI is direct about this: there is no universal passing score. Each school sets its own minimum, and some weigh the TEAS alongside GPA and other factors. Compare your adjusted total score, and any section scores your program names, against that program's published requirement.

Schools also decide how long they accept a score. ATI says two years is common, but policies vary. If you are applying over several cycles, check each program's window before you retest.

When scores post, sending them, and retakes

When your score appears depends on how you tested, and sending it to schools is a separate step.

• TEAS at ATI (remote): a preliminary score appears right away and becomes final four business days after your exam date.
• TEAS at your school: the score usually posts right after the exam, though some schools turn off score posting.
• TEAS at PSI: the score can take up to 48 hours to appear.
• A TEAS at ATI or PSI registration includes one transcript credit, but it is not sent automatically. Send it from the Results tab in your ATI account.
• Each additional school costs $29.99. Exams taken through a school go to that school automatically.
• ATI requires no waiting period between attempts. Your program sets how many attempts it accepts and any wait.