A study plan that fits around a job

ATI recommends allowing at least six weeks of preparation before sitting the TEAS. This is what six weeks can look like when they have to fit around shifts, and where the overlap between the two exams means one hour buys two results.

Week zero: the part that is not studying

Before you open a book, get four answers from the program you are applying to. They determine what a good result even looks like for you, and none of them can be found on a study site.

  • Which exam does the program require, and if it is the HESI A2, which components?
  • What is the cut score, and is there a separate minimum for any section?
  • How many attempts are accepted, and which one is used?
  • What is the deadline for the score to reach the program, not the deadline to sit the exam?
People lose whole weeks studying the wrong exam or the wrong components. The fix takes one email.

Weeks one and two: find out what you do not know

Work each section bank end to end once, without timing yourself. The score is not the point at this stage — the pattern of misses is. Write down the topics, not the numbers.

By the end of week two you should be able to name your three weakest topics in a sentence each. If you cannot, you have been reading percentages instead of questions.

  • Do the full bank for each section, untimed.
  • Read every explanation, including the ones you got right.
  • Keep a running list of topics missed, not questions missed.

Weeks three and four: the overlap block

This is where you get the most for your hours. Anatomy and physiology is roughly half of the TEAS science section and a HESI component in its own right — the same studying counts twice. Do it now, while there is still time for it to settle.

Alongside it, drill conversions until they are recall rather than calculation. Kilograms and pounds, teaspoons and milliliters, grams and milligrams and micrograms. These appear on the math sections of both exams and again in your first semester, and they are the cheapest marks on either paper.

  • Body systems, one per session, with what each major structure does.
  • Directional and positional terms — the vocabulary that makes every other A&P question readable.
  • The conversion set, drilled to automatic.
  • Prefixes, roots and suffixes: hypo/hyper, brady/tachy, -itis, -ectomy, -algia, -emia.
The word-parts work pays on three sections at once — science, English, and the HESI vocabulary component. It is the highest-leverage hour on this page.

Week five: timed conditions

Now add the clock, because on the TEAS the clock is a section of its own. Reading gives you about 72 seconds per question including the passage, and English gives you about a minute. Practicing untimed forever hides that problem rather than solving it.

Run full-length sections rather than short sets. The skill you are building is deciding quickly to leave a question and come back, and you cannot practice that in a ten-question set.

  • One full section per session, timed to the real limit.
  • Practice flagging and returning — inside a section, not across sections.
  • Never leave a question blank at the end of a section; there is no way back in.

Week six: narrow, do not broaden

The last week is for the three topics from week two and nothing else. Adding new material in the final days feels productive and reliably is not — it converts settled knowledge into half-settled knowledge.

Re-run the banks you have already worked. The questions reshuffle, and the items you get right on the third pass are the ones that will still be there on the day.

Two days before: confirm the location or the remote-proctoring setup, the identification required, and what you may bring. A logistical failure costs the same as an academic one and is entirely preventable.

Where the time actually goes

Three habits waste more preparation time than anything else, and all three feel like studying.

  • Re-reading notes instead of answering questions. Recognition is not recall, and the exam tests recall.
  • Studying your strongest section because it is pleasant. The marks are in the weak one.
  • Tracking practice percentages instead of missed topics. A percentage tells you how it went; a topic list tells you what to do tomorrow.

Now find out what you actually know.

Free practice questions with an explanation after every answer. No account, no paywall.

Start a practice test

Frequently asked

How long should I study for the TEAS?
ATI recommends allowing at least six weeks of preparation. How much time inside those weeks depends on your starting point, which is what the first two weeks of this plan are for establishing.
What should I study first?
Work each section once to find your weak topics, then start with anatomy and physiology — it is the largest block that counts toward both the TEAS science section and the HESI A2.
Can I prepare for both exams at once?
To a large extent, yes. Reading, grammar, and anatomy and physiology overlap heavily. The parts that do not transfer are TEAS chemistry and scientific reasoning, and HESI vocabulary and roman numerals.
Are practice tests enough on their own?
They are how you find out what you do not know and how you build recall, but the explanations are where the learning happens. A practice test worked without reading the explanations is a score, not a study session.

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.

Page facts last verified August 22, 2026.

More guides

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.