HESI A2
The HESI A2* is a computer based exam required for students applying to the Maricopa Community Colleges District Nursing Programs (AAS degree at any Maricopa Community College, the Certified Nursing Assistant and the Practical Nursing programs at the Southwest Skill Center).
- Plan 3-4 hours for the exam
- Scores will remain valid for 24 months from the date the test was taken
- Students may retest twice in a 12 month period, with 60 days minimum between attempts
- No appointment required for testing, check testing schedule for days and times.
- Cost: $37* (*fees subject to change)
To apply to a nursing program, students must achieve the following scores:
- 75% or higher on Math
- 75% or higher on the composite of Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar
*Important Update: For the RN and LPN Programs, any applications turned in on or after July 1st, 2012 will require a score of 85% or higher on the Composite score for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar tests.
Please note: If you took a NET test and received passing scores, NET scores will continue to be honored for two years from the date the NET was taken.
A2 Content Exams
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Math: 50-item exam. Focuses on math skills needed for health care fields, including basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, decimals, ratio and proportion, household measures, and general math facts that are useful, for example, when calculating drug dosages and solutions. Recommended time: 50 minutes.
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Reading Comprehension: 47-item exam. Reading scenarios that are health related. Provides reading scenarios in order to measure reading comprehension, including: identifying the main idea, finding meaning of words in context, passage comprehension, making logical inferences, etc. The reading scenarios pop up on the screen. Students can move around the windows to see the entire scenario. Recommended time: 60 minutes.
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Vocabulary and General Knowledge: 50-item exam. Contains basic vocabulary that is often used in health care fields. Recommended time: 50 minutes.
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Grammar: 50-item exam. Contains basic grammar, including: parts of speech, important terms and their uses in grammar, and commonly occurring grammatical errors. Recommended time: 50 minutes.
A2 Learning Style/Personality Profile/Critical Thinking:
- Learning Styles: 14-item assessment of preferred learning style. Recommended time: 15 minutes. (Not included in minimum score requirements)
- Personality Style: 25-item assessment of personality related to preferred learning style. Students receive a printout with study tips based on their learning style and personality profile. Recommended time: 25 minutes. (Not included in minimum score requirements)
- Critical Thinking: 30-item assessment of critical thinking ability. This exam is a four-choice, multiple-choice test. All answers are correct; however, each choice reflects a different degree critical thinking skills. Scores range from 0-1000. The higher the score, the better the ability to think critically within the discipline of nursing. Recommended time: 30 minutes (Not included in minimum score requirements)
*Please note that the HESI A2 is a separate test from the HESI PN Exit Exam used for Advanced Placement, this office does not offer the HESI PN.
