Volume II · The nursing entrance series
The HESI A2 study manual
& question bank.
The HESI A2 is a set of subtests, and your nursing program decides which ones you sit. RedRubric covers them with original practice questions, a worked rationale under every answer, and a full study guide, all written for this manual and mapped to the HESI A2 outline.
Taking the ATI TEAS 7 instead? Turn to Vol. I · ATI TEAS 7 →
The examination, at a glance
The HESI A2 is modular: most programs require the four academic subtests and choose among the four sciences (anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, physics).
Why we built a manual, not another app.
The HESI A2 decides who starts nursing school next term and who waits for the next intake. It is broad, it is timed subtest by subtest, and it is modular: two applicants to two different programs can sit two different exams and both call it the HESI. Most students still prepare with a booklet that covers half of what their own program asked for, and no way to tell which half.1
If the exam is that consequential, the preparation should match it. Every question here is written from scratch and mapped to the published HESI A2 outline. Every answer is explained the moment you submit it. Every attempt is scored as a percentage on each subtest, because that is how your program will read it.2 No tricks, no filler. Just the exam, in full.
- Official prep is sold per exam: Elsevier’s HESI practice exams are a separate purchase from any TEAS package, and your program charges its own sitting fee on top. RedRubric’s largest edition is $129, paid once, and it covers this volume and the ATI TEAS 7.
- RedRubric is independent and unaffiliated with Elsevier or HESI. Our questions are original and are never reproduced from a live exam.
The subtests, and your program chooses which count.
What’s on the HESI A2
Most programs require the academic subtests; the sciences vary by school. Each subtest below has free practice questions with worked rationales.
Scores are percentages per subtest. Most programs look for 75 to 80% or better; check yours, since the cutoff and the required subtests are the school’s call.
A modular exam, rehearsed the way you will sit it.
Sit the exam your program actually sets.
Rehearsing all eight subtests is the wrong rehearsal for almost everyone, and it takes 335 minutes to find that out. Tell RedRubric which subtests your program requires and it holds the list: every practice test you start covers those subtests, in the official order, under the official per-subtest clock.
Once you have an account, save the list in Account settings and every sitting follows it. On the brief screen before any practice test you can tick a different set for that one sitting, which leaves your saved list untouched.
Try a specimen question.
A discharge instruction sheet can be described as succinct or as convoluted. Which statement correctly sorts these two words into the clarity camps the exam tests?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Correct answer: D, Succinct signals writing that does its job clearly, while convoluted signals writing that is unnecessarily complicated and hard to follow
Succinct writing is brief and clear, the same camp as concise and coherent, while convoluted writing is needlessly complicated, the same camp as ambiguous and obscure. They are not two degrees of the same problem, not purely about length or tone, and not stronger or weaker versions of one another.
That is seven of hundreds.
Open the full HESI A2 drill: hundreds more questions across every content area, plus full-length timed mock exams, with every attempt scored into a proficiency band.
Practise all HESI A2questions →Free practice questions per subtest.
Free HESI A2 practice, by subtest.
Each subtest opens with free questions and worked rationales, no account needed.
Everything the exam asks of you, and nothing it doesn’t.
What you get.
An original question bank across all eight subtests
More than 1,300 practice questions, every one written from scratch against the published HESI A2 outline and never taken from a live form. All 97 objectives on the outline carry hand-written anchor questions, so nothing on the syllabus goes untested.
Full-length practice tests, timed subtest by subtest
The real shape of the paper: 297 scored questions across 335 minutes if you sit all eight, each subtest under its own clock. Sit only the subtests your program sets and the paper shortens with you.
8 subjects · 35 units · 97 lessons
The lessons behind the questions.
Practice tells you that you missed something. It does not always tell you what to do about it. So the questions sit on top of a taught course: 97 lessons across 35 units, one topic each, written in plain language and ending in a short self-check quiz. One unit in every subject is free to read in full, no card needed.
Read a unit, then drill the same subtest with free HESI A2 practice questions. The whole course is indexed in the HESI A2 study guide.
Three steps, repeated until the exam holds no surprises.
Three steps to the HESI.
See every subtest
Sit the free practice test and read the percentage on each subtest, so the ones dragging your application stop being a guess.
Rebuild the weak ones
Work targeted question sets on your softest subtests, with every miss explained the instant you make it.
Rehearse the day
Sit fresh timed practice tests until the subtests your program needs feel like something you have already done.
Pick how long you need the manual, not which questions you’re allowed to see.
Choose your edition.
Every edition draws on the same original question bank. You are choosing how long you keep it, never paying more for the “real” questions.For comparison. ATI’s TEAS study packages run about $99 to $199; Mometrix rents at roughly $80 a month. RedRubric’s Lifetime edition is $129, paid once. Competitor prices checked July 2026.
The exam you sit, the difficulty, and the timeline.
Three things worth reading first.
Taking the TEAS instead, or both?
Volume I, the ATI TEAS 7 manual, is complete, and any paid edition covers both volumes. If you are still working out which exam you sit, start with TEAS vs HESI: which one does your program want?
How hard is it, honestly?
Difficulty depends on which subtests you are set, so we wrote the read subtest by subtest: How hard is the HESI A2? It covers all eight and how the scoring is read.
Six weeks out?
Work backwards from your test date with a six-week HESI A2 study plan that starts by confirming your program’s subtest list, then rehearses the weak ones under a clock.
What students ask about the HESI A2.
HESI A2 questions, answered plainly.
What is the HESI A2 exam?
The HESI A2, or Admission Assessment, is Elsevier's nursing school entrance exam. It is a set of up to eight subtests covering mathematics, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and the sciences, and your program chooses which ones you sit.
Which HESI A2 subtests do I need?
That is set by your nursing program, not by Elsevier. Most require the four academic subtests (mathematics, reading, vocabulary, grammar) and choose among the sciences (anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, physics). Check your program's published requirement.
What is a good HESI A2 score?
Each subtest is reported as its own percentage, and most programs look for roughly 75 to 80% or better. There is no single national passing score, so confirm the exact cutoff with the school you are applying to.
Is RedRubric affiliated with Elsevier or HESI?
No. RedRubric is independent. Every question is original, written by the RedRubric editors and mapped to the published HESI A2 outline, never taken from a real HESI form.
Is there free HESI A2 practice?
Yes. Every subtest page carries free practice questions with worked rationales, and you can sit one full practice test free with no card. A paid edition unlocks the whole question bank.
Does one account cover the HESI A2 and the TEAS?
Yes. RedRubric treats the two exams as volumes of one manual, so any paid edition unlocks both the HESI A2 and the ATI TEAS 7. If your programs ask for different exams, nothing is bought twice.