TEAS Math study guide
TEAS Math · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) is a standardized entrance exam that nursing and allied health programs use to assess applicant readiness. It is not a licensure exam and it does not certify anyone to practice; it is an admissions tool, so the audience is prospective students applying to a program that lists the TEAS among its requirements. ATI develops the exam and publishes prep materials aligned to the current TEAS, Version 7. Content is organized into four subject areas: mathematics, science, reading, and English and language usage. Topics on this exam: Reading, Mathematics, Science, and English and Language Usage. The TEAS Math study guide has 4 sections and about 1,363 words.
01Reading: Locating Evidence, Inferring Carefully, and Judging Arguments
The Reading section rewards evidence-finding, not outside knowledge. Almost every question is answerable from the passage itself, so build the habit of pointing to the sentence that proves your choice before you select an answer. Distinguish topic from main idea : the topic is what the passage is about (a phrase), while the main idea is the claim the author makes about that topic (a complete sentence). Supporting details are the evidence behind the claim.
389 words, about 2 min02Mathematics: Arithmetic, Algebra, Data, and Geometry Under Time Pressure
The TEAS Math section mixes arithmetic, algebra, measurement and data, and geometry. Most missed questions are not hard math - they are setup errors, so slow down at the translation step and speed up on the computation. Be fluent converting among fractions, decimals, and percents , and know that percent of means multiply while percent change means (new − old) ÷ old. Order of operations (parentheses, exponents, multiply/divide left to right, add/subtract left to right) governs every expression; distribution of a negative sign is a frequent slip.
333 words, about 2 min03Science: Body Systems, Cells, Matter, and Experimental Design
TEAS Science spans human anatomy and physiology, life science, physical science, and scientific reasoning. Questions are largely conceptual, so understanding why a system works beats memorizing isolated facts. For the human body, know the major systems and their roles - circulatory, respiratory, digestive, nervous, endocrine, immune, urinary, musculoskeletal, and reproductive - and tie each to homeostasis , the body's drive to hold internal conditions steady (for example, negative feedback lowering blood glucose after a meal). In life science, review organelles (mitochondria for energy, ribosomes for protein synthesis, nucleus for DNA), the difference between mitosis (growth, identical cells) and meiosis (gametes, halved chromosome number), the four macromolecules (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids), and basic genetics with dominant and recessive alleles in Punnett squares.
309 words, about 2 min04English and Language Usage: Sentence Boundaries, Agreement, and Punctuation
This section tests standard written English: grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and word choice. Most items hinge on a single rule, so learn to name the rule the question is testing. A sentence fragment lacks a subject, a verb, or a complete thought; a run-on or comma splice joins two independent clauses without correct punctuation - fix them with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet). Subject-verb agreement requires matching singular subjects to singular verbs, and interrupting phrases never change the subject.
332 words, about 2 min