HESI A2
The HESI A2 is Elsevier's entrance exam for nursing and allied-health programs — the gate hundreds of ADN, BSN, and accelerated nursing schools use to decide who gets a seat in a cohort. Unlike a licensure exam, it is taken before you are admitted, so a weak Math, Anatomy & Physiology, or Reading score can keep you out of an already over-subscribed program for an entire intake cycle. This page breaks down exactly which sections the HESI A2 covers, how each school scores it, and how to get it done right the first time.
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How the HESI A2 is built — at a glance
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Math, Reading, Vocabulary, Grammar, Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy & Physiology, and Physics. Your program chooses which of these you actually sit.
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A Learning Style assessment and a Personality Profile. These are not pass/fail and don't carry a percentage score — schools use them for advising.
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Each section returns a percentage. There is no national pass mark — your school sets the cutoff and decides whether sections are averaged into a composite.
Each section is separately timed — typically around 25 minutes for the science areas (about 25 questions each) and roughly 50–60 minutes for Math, Reading, Vocabulary, and Grammar (about 47–50 questions each). A full battery of all eight sections runs roughly 4 to 5 hours, but most candidates sit far fewer sections than that.
The HESI A2 is not adaptive. Each section is scored as a straight percentage of correct answers. Because there is no fixed pass mark, the bar is whatever your program publishes — commonly 75% or 80% on every required section, and some schools require that minimum on each section individually rather than just on an average.
Bars show each section's approximate question load relative to the largest section
Fractions, decimals, ratios, proportions, percentages, military time, and dosage-style word problems — the math nurses actually use at the bedside.
Health-context passages testing main idea, inference, vocabulary in context, and distinguishing fact from opinion under time pressure.
Everyday and medical terminology a nursing student must recognise — the words that appear across textbooks, charts, and physician orders.
Parts of speech, common usage errors, and the grammar rules that underpin clear clinical documentation and patient communication.
Body systems, tissues, and organ function — widely cited as the hardest section and the one most programs weigh heavily for admission.
Cells, metabolism, photosynthesis, water, biological molecules, and basic genetics — foundational science required by many programs.
Atomic structure, the periodic table, chemical reactions, bonding, and the basic chemistry that underlies pharmacology — required by some programs.
Motion, force, energy, waves, and Newton's laws. The rarest section — only a small number of programs require Physics for admission.
The single most important thing to know: you almost never sit all eight sections. Most nursing programs require Math, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Anatomy & Physiology; Grammar, Biology, and Chemistry are common add-ons; Physics is rare. Always confirm your program's exact section list before booking — sitting the wrong sections is a common, avoidable mistake.
Approximate questions, timing, and how often each section is required for nursing admission
| Section | Approx. Questions | Approx. Time | How Often Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | ~50 | ~50 min | Almost always |
| Reading Comprehension | ~47 | ~60 min | Almost always |
| Vocabulary & General Knowledge | ~50 | ~50 min | Almost always |
| Grammar | ~50 | ~50 min | Common |
| Anatomy & Physiology | ~25 | ~25 min | Very common |
| Biology | ~25 | ~25 min | Common |
| Chemistry | ~25 | ~25 min | Occasional |
| Physics | ~25 | ~25 min | Rare |
Question counts and time limits are configured by Elsevier and can vary slightly between versions and schools. The Learning Style and Personality Profile components add roughly 15 and 15 questions respectively but are untimed and not scored as pass/fail. Treat the numbers above as planning estimates and verify against your program's HESI A2 instructions.
Where you can sit the HESI A2 — and what to expect on test day
Many programs run the HESI A2 in their own monitored testing lab on Elsevier's Evolve platform, where staff verify your ID and supervise the room. Prometric also delivers the A2 at its test-center network. Center and on-campus fees are set by the school or vendor and typically land in the $40–115 range.
If your school enables it, you take the A2 from home under remote proctoring — either Meazure Learning's ProctorU (Live+ / Review+) or Prometric's ProProctor app. You install a secure browser, pass an ID check and a 360° room scan, and a proctor watches your webcam and screen for the whole exam. ProctorU asks you to schedule at least 72 hours ahead to avoid on-demand fees.
A valid government photo ID with a name matching your Evolve registration. The proctor captures a photo and may ask you to show the ID to the camera before the exam unlocks.
A private room, a fully cleared desk, no second monitor, no phone within reach, and a webcam, microphone, and a connection of roughly 10 Mbps down / 3 Mbps up. No one else may enter.
Stay in frame and on camera throughout. Reading notes aloud, leaving the seat, looking off-screen, or losing connection can flag the session. An on-screen calculator is provided for Math.
The HESI A2 gates entry to nursing and allied-health programs
No prerequisites — but the admission stakes make it brutal
Difficulty: The HESI A2 isn't conceptually advanced, but it is unforgiving. Anatomy & Physiology is the section test-takers report failing most, and a single weak section can sink an otherwise strong application when programs require the cutoff on every required area. With limited retakes and competitive cohorts, there is real pressure to clear it the first time — exactly the pressure point our help is built to remove.
The HESI A2 sits between you and a cohort seat, and many programs only run one or two intakes a year — a missed cutoff can cost you a whole cycle. Exam Assist pairs you with a vetted HESI A2 specialist on a pay-after-you-pass model, so the risk sits with us, not you. No upfront fee, guaranteed results: just an honest plan around your exact required sections and a verified result before you settle.
Tell us which program you're applying to, the exact sections it requires, your target percentage, your delivery method (campus, Prometric, or online), and your test date — a couple of minutes over WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
We review your school's cutoff, your timeline, and your weak sections — and tell you plainly whether it's realistic before any money is discussed. If it isn't a fit, we say so.
Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end. You're matched with a HESI A2 specialist who maps the work around your required sections — especially Anatomy & Physiology and Math — and the ProctorU or ProProctor environment, discreetly and confidentially.
You only pay once your passing result is confirmed against your program's cutoff. No verified result, nothing owed.
Our nursing-track service covers entrance and licensure exams on a pay-after-you-pass basis.
Sitting the A2 online through ProctorU? See how we handle remotely proctored exams discreetly.
For Prometric ProProctor and other remote platforms — what to expect and how we work.
See the full pay-after-you-pass arrangement, how matching works, and what it costs.
Straight answers about the HESI Admission Assessment (A2)
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