How to Study for the TEAS Test: A Study Guide

In this article, we will be discussing our recommended strategy on how you could approach your studying for the nursing-school admission’s ATI TEAS test. We believe this strategy is the most effective in getting the most work done in as little time as possible. This study strategy should work whether you have a week left before the test or a month left. 

Summary:

• Step 1: Take a full-length practice test to see where you stand right now if you were to take the real test today
• Step 2: Identify which questions’ topics you missed the most. Identify your weak points.
• Step 3: Read notes and study guides on the topics you missed.
• Step 4: Perform practice questions on the specific topics you missed
• Step 5: Learn from your mistakes and review the questions you got wrong
• Step 6: Take another full-length practice test and see what you would score now
• Step 7: Repeat steps 2 through 6 over and over again until it is one day before the test
• Step 8: The day before the real test, don’t study. Allow your brain to rest and go to bed extra early

‍

Step 1: Take a full-length practice test to see where you stand right now if you were to take the real test today

Before we dive into our guide, we need to know how prepared you are for the test right now. From there, we will use this information to guide your studying. It will take you about 2 hours to complete this step so make sure you set yourself up for it. Get off the couch, off your phone, and on a desk with a laptop or a book and get started. If you don’t already have some TEAS prep resources, here’s a list of the most popular ones. You can also do a 50-question practice test on TestBeach, which will suffice in telling where you stand for the TEAS test. ATI offers two full-length practice tests but they’re fairly expensive. The only reason to get them over others is if you have a large budget. Prep sources like TestBeach will be enough at a much better price.

‍

Step 2: Identify which questions’ topics you missed the most. Identify your weak points

You need to familiarize yourself with the complete list of topics asked on the TEAS. It’s 64 topics total that fall within the science, math, english, and reading modules. 

‍

Calculate your score for each section of the test. 

Here is an example:

Reading

• Key Ideas and Details (4 questions right out of 17 asked = 4/17 = 23% of questions right ) 
• Craft and Structure (9 questions right out of 11 asked = 9/11 = 81% of questions right) 
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (15 questions right out of 17 asked = 15/17 = 88% of questions right) 

Math

• Numbers and Algebra (5 questions right out of 20 asked = 5/20 = 25% of questions right) 
• Measurement and Data (17 questions right out of 18 asked = 17/18 = 94% of questions right) 

Science

• Human Anatomy and Physiology (13 questions right out of 21 asked = 62%) 
• Biology (9 questions right out of 10 asked = 90%) 
• Chemistry (9 questions right out of 9 asked = 100%) 
• Scientific Reasoning (1 questions right out of 9 asked = 11%) 

English

• Conventions of Standard English (6 questions right out of 14 asked = 43%) 
• Knowledge of Language (12 questions right out of 12 asked = 100%) 
• Vocabulary (4 questions right out of 11 asked = 36%)

‍

Upon calculating your grade for each topic section of the test, arrange your test scores from least to greatest for test scores that are below 75%. This will be the list of topics you need to study in priority order. For our example, it is

‍

Step 3: Read notes and study guides on the topics you missed.

Now that we’ve identified which topics you are weak on, we need to do some light reading on these topics. Familiarize yourself with what they are about. You don’t need to become an expert in each topic. You just need to become proficient at them. 

Remember that inside of each section (as listed in the table above), there are subtopic lessons. For example, for the section of  Science - Human Anatomy and Physiology, you can find the following subtopics:

Science - Human Anatomy and Physiology:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the general orientation of human anatomy
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the digestive system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the muscular system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the male and female reproductive system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the endocrine system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the urinary system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the immune system
• Describe the anatomy and physiology of the skeletal system

Click here to see all the subtopic lessons for every section of the test >

‍

TestBeach has several free study guides to help you get the main concepts of all the topics asked on the TEAS. 

‍

Additionally, you can use free YouTube channels like Science w/ Susanna or Math with Brandon Craft to help you familiarize yourself with these topics.

‍

Step 4: Do practice problems on these topics missed

The best way to prepare for any exam is by simulating the experience of the real exam. In this case, by doing practice problems as the real exam will also show you practice problems. 

Use any of your TEAS prep tools to do practice questions on the specific topics you missed. 

‍

Step 5: Learn from your mistakes and review the questions you got wrong

Hopefully you are scoring better now than before on these new practice questions. Regardless, you should review your mistakes and understand the fundamentals of why you got those questions wrong. The keyword here is “fundamentals”. You need to understand WHY the answer was what it was as opposed to just saying something like “oh this makes sense” and then moving onto the next question. Apply this idea for all the questions you got wrong. 

‍

Step 6: Take another full-length practice test and see what you would score now

Now that we have reviewed and practiced, we need to see what we would score if we were to take the real test right now after all this learning. 

‍

Step 7: Repeat steps 2 through 6 over and over again until it is one day before the test

Do this over and over again until it’s test time. Hopefully, we see a gradual improvement in your test scores before test day. Remember, repetition is key.

‍

Step 8: Don’t study the day before the test and go to bed extra early the day before

You probably still have material left to study, but we would argue that you should avoid studying more. At this point, you have studied for a while and your brain needs rest. Don’t jeopardize all the hard work you put in weeks prior to the test to study one more topic that might only show up as one of the 170 questions on the test. After all this studying that occurred prior, it’s best to let your mind rest and go into the test feeling refreshed with a clear mind as opposed to tired with a cluttered mind.