How many questions are on the TEAS? 170 questions, 209 minutes

The ATI TEAS is 170 questions in all, including alternate item types (ATI's content outline names multiple-select, fill-in numeric, hot spot and ordered response) — and the split is three numbers you should carry into the room: 150 are scored, 20 are unscored, and the whole sitting is 209 minutes. ATI states the total as "170 total questions ... which includes 150 scored items and 20 unscored, pretest items", so the count is the exam owner's own, not an estimate or a rumor from a prep forum. The items in this site's own practice sets are single-best-answer questions, which is the format a practice sitting needs.

Two of those numbers do different jobs. The scored total is what your score is taken from; the unscored twenty are pretest items ATI is trialing, and they are mixed in with the rest.

The four sections, and how the 170 divide

Each of ATI's four content areas carries its own items and its own clock, and the sections are timed separately — you cannot borrow minutes from reading to finish science.

The per-section item counts and clocks are ATI's; the Unscored column is our own arithmetic. ATI states the total, the scored count, and that the 20 pretest items are spread across the sections — it does not publish a per-section unscored split.

Science is the longest section and carries the most scored items, which is why it is the largest block of study time in most plans. English and language usage is the shortest section with the fewest items — and, item for item, the tightest clock on the exam.

You cannot tell which items are scored

ATI is direct about this: "How can you tell if a test question is scored or unscored? You can't. And that's the point." Two consequences follow. First, there is no strategy in trying to spot the fake ones — treat all 170 as if each one counted, because any of them might. Second, there is no penalty for a guess: ATI states "Each question is marked right or wrong — no partial credit — but don't stress, there's no penalty for guessing!" An item you leave blank scores exactly the same as one you answer wrong, so answer every question in every section.

The clock is four clocks

ATI publishes the totals and the four section clocks. The per-item pace is our own division of one by the other: 55 minutes for 45 items works out to about 1.2 minutes an item in reading, 57 for 38 is about 1.5 in math, 60 for 50 is 1.2 in science, and 37 for 37 is a single minute in English and language usage. Read that as four separate budgets rather than one 209-minute pool:

• Math gets the most minutes per item of the four. That time goes into setup, units, and arithmetic you can check.
• Science gives you 60 minutes for 50 items — the longest section, and the one with the most items.
• Reading is 55 minutes for 45 items, and the passages take time to read.
• English and language usage is 37 items in 37 minutes — one minute each, the tightest ratio on the paper.

What the counts do not tell you

The item counts are a map of the paper, not a study plan. Knowing that science is 60 minutes does not tell you which of ATI's twelve sub-content areas the items come from, and that is where the study decisions actually are: human anatomy and physiology carries 12% of the exam on its own — tied with numbers and algebra as the largest sub-content area — and the other three science areas together carry 17%. Those weights, section by section and sub-area by sub-area, are worked through on the matching practice pages and guides, and the clock on the day itself is covered on the test-day checklist.

• TEAS practice test — the whole paper, section by section
• Math practice · Science practice · Reading practice · English practice — free sets with a worked explanation on every item
• TEAS test-day checklist — the 209 minutes, the ID rules, and when your score posts

What this page will not do

It will not turn these counts into a score. ATI equates the total and content-area scores across the different versions of the exam, which means a raw percentage on any set of questions — ours or anyone else's — is not a TEAS score, and no website can compute one for you from a practice percentage. A school's cut score is the number that matters, and each school sets its own.

ATI TEAS® is a registered trademark of Assessment Technologies Institute, LLC. Elk Ridge Academy is not affiliated with or endorsed by ATI.