If you're applying to a nursing or allied health program, you'll likely need to take the Test of Essential Academic Skills, or TEAS. Developed by Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI), this standardized exam is designed to measure your academic readiness for health science programs. Think of it as a way for schools to see if you have the foundational knowledge needed to succeed in their challenging curriculum. It's a key part of your application, showing that you're prepared for the road ahead.

The TEAS is a multiple-choice exam broken down into four distinct sections. Each section tests a different area of your academic skills, from reading comprehension to scientific reasoning. The entire test is timed, and each section has its own time limit.

Knowing this structure is the first step in preparing. It helps you understand how the test is paced and where you'll need to focus your attention.

Not every question on the TEAS test affects your final score. Each section includes a small number of "pretest" questions. These are unscored and are used by ATI to evaluate questions for future versions of the exam. You won't know which questions are scored and which are pretest items, so you must answer every question to the best of your ability.

Your score report will show how you performed on each of the four sections, along with a total composite score. This breakdown helps you—and the schools you're applying to—identify your academic strengths and weaknesses.