How many questions are on the HESI A2?

It depends on your program. Elsevier publishes eight academic components and each program selects which ones its applicants sit, so there is no universal question count.

Is the HESI A2 the same as the Evolve Reach exam?

Yes. HESI A2 is also referred to as the Evolve Reach Admission Assessment; Elsevier acquired HESI and publishes it through its Evolve platform.

How much does the HESI A2 cost?

The price is set by the institution administering it, not by Elsevier, so it varies from school to school. Check with your program.

The HESI A2, and why yours may differ

The HESI A2 is not one exam. Elsevier publishes a set of components and each nursing program picks which ones its applicants sit — so the first thing to establish is not how to study, but what you are actually sitting.

Start here: get your component list

Before anything else, get the list of required components from your program in writing. Everything downstream — how long the exam takes, how many questions you face, what to revise, how much time to allow — depends on that list and cannot be answered without it.

This is the single most useful thing on this page, and it is the step most study guides skip because it is not something they can answer for you.

A study plan built from a generic "the HESI A2 has 326 questions" figure is a study plan built for someone else’s exam.

The eight academic components

Elsevier’s academic components are:

Mathematics
Reading Comprehension
Vocabulary and General Knowledge
Grammar
Biology
Chemistry
Anatomy and Physiology
Physics

Which ones you are most likely to sit

Programs commonly require mathematics, reading comprehension, vocabulary and general knowledge, and grammar. Anatomy and physiology is the most common addition on top of those four, and biology appears in some programs.

Chemistry and physics are the least commonly required. That is a statement about how programs configure the exam, not about the exam itself — if your program requires them, they are as real as any other component.

Some administrations also include a personality profile and a learning-style inventory. These are not academic components and are not scored the way the others are.

What each component actually asks

Mathematics — fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio and proportion, household and metric conversion, military time, and roman numerals. The conversions and roman numerals are what set it apart from TEAS math.
Reading Comprehension — main idea, inference, tone, vocabulary in context, with health-related passages. Answer from the passage; content knowledge can mislead you here.
Vocabulary and General Knowledge — everyday academic vocabulary weighted toward words that appear in clinical settings.
Grammar — parts of speech, agreement, punctuation, sentence construction, tested in isolated sentences.
Anatomy and Physiology — systems, structures, directional terms, and basic physiology. The highest-value component to study, because it overlaps with the TEAS science section.

Cost, timing and retakes

All three are set by the institution rather than by Elsevier, which is the same pattern as the price of the TEAS and for the same reason: your school is selling the seat.

That means published figures for HESI A2 cost, time limits and retake waiting periods describe individual schools. Ask your program for its own numbers, in writing, and treat anything you read elsewhere as an illustration.

What does a sitting cost at your testing location?
Which components are required, and how long is your configuration?
How many attempts does the program allow, and over what period?
How long must you wait between attempts?
What score does the program require, and is it a total or per component?

Now find out what you actually know.

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Frequently asked

How many questions are on the HESI A2?: It depends on your program. Elsevier publishes eight academic components and each program selects which ones its applicants sit, so there is no universal question count.
Which HESI A2 sections do I have to take?: Whichever ones your nursing program requires. Programs commonly require mathematics, reading comprehension, vocabulary and general knowledge, and grammar, often adding anatomy and physiology.
Is the HESI A2 the same as the Evolve Reach exam?: Yes. HESI A2 is also referred to as the Evolve Reach Admission Assessment; Elsevier acquired HESI and publishes it through its Evolve platform.
How much does the HESI A2 cost?: The price is set by the institution administering it, not by Elsevier, so it varies from school to school. Check with your program.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

Elsevier / Evolve — HESI Admission Assessment (A2) exam components Read August 22, 2026

Page facts last verified August 22, 2026.

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Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by ATI (Assessment Technologies Institute), Elsevier, or any nursing program. TEAS® and HESI® are trademarks of their respective owners. Practice questions here are original study material, not the official exams.