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TEAS reading study guide

The TEAS reading section comes first: 45 questions in 55 minutes, 39 of them scored, in three content areas: key ideas and details (15 questions), craft and structure (9) and integration of knowledge and ideas (15) (ATI exam details). To study for it, learn the dozen question types below, practise a fixed way of reading each passage, and drill at about 73 seconds a question, reading time included.

This guide gives you every skill ATI lists with how it shows up on the test, the reading minimums programs publish, a sample passage with 8 questions and the reason for each answer, and a 14-day plan.

What is on the TEAS reading section?

ATI splits the section into three content areas. The counts below are scored questions; six more are unscored pretest questions that look the same as the rest (what is on the TEAS test has the whole exam).

Question counts and minutes are ATI's. The "what it tests" column follows ATI's content area names and the skill lists prep publishers give for each (Nurse.org, Open Exam Prep). Passages are short: a paragraph or a few, a set of directions, a label, a chart, an email or memo. Some questions have no passage at all beyond a single sentence.

How hard is the TEAS reading section?

The passages are written at a level a first-year college student reads every day. What makes the section hard is the pace and the wrong answers. You get 55 minutes for 45 questions: about 73 seconds each, and that includes reading the passage. Wrong answers are written to be almost right: true about the passage but not the main idea, a detail that is there but answers a different question, a word that is a correct meaning but not in this sentence.

Reading is also the first section, so it is the one you take while you are freshest and most nervous. A steady first 10 minutes sets the pace for the rest of the exam. Most questions are four-option multiple choice; TEAS 7 also has multiple select, fill in the blank, ordered response and hot spot questions, and none of them give partial credit (ATI: question types). In reading, an ordered response question might ask you to put the steps of a procedure in order; a hot spot might ask you to click the sentence that states the claim.

What reading score do nursing programs ask for?

Most programs set one overall TEAS minimum. A good number also set a reading minimum, and reading is the section they name most often. From the programs in our list:

With 39 scored questions, each one is worth about 2.6 percentage points of your reading score before ATI's adjustment between test forms. Going from 26 right (about 67%) to 29 right (about 74%) is the gap between missing and clearing Northern Virginia's 73%. All 56 programs' numbers are in what TEAS score you need; the TEAS score calculator turns your correct answers into section percents.

Key ideas and details: 15 questions

This area asks what the text says. The answer is always in the passage; your job is to find it fast and not add to it.

• Main idea. The one sentence the whole passage supports. Test each choice: does every paragraph back it up? A choice that fits only one paragraph is a detail. A choice wider than the passage ("Exercise improves every part of health") is too broad.
• Summary. Like main idea, but the best summary keeps the passage's order and leaves out examples. Wrong choices add an opinion the author never gave or drop the second half of the argument.
• Supporting details. "According to the passage, which…" means the answer is stated. Find the line; don't answer from memory.
• Inferences and conclusions. What must be true from what is said, not what might be true. If a clinic "extended its hours after wait times doubled", you can infer the wait times were a problem; you can't infer patients complained.
• Following directions. A set of steps (a recipe, a medication label, a form) and a question like "After step 4, what will the person have?" Work it on scratch paper, one step at a time. These are the most common place to lose a point you knew.
• Information in graphics. A nutrition label, a map with a legend, a bar chart, a table of clinic hours. Read the title, the units and the legend before the question. Many wrong answers use the right number with the wrong unit or the wrong row.
• Sequence. What happened first, or which step comes before another. Signal words: first, then, after, before, until, finally.

Craft and structure: 9 questions

This area asks how and why the text was written. It has the fewest questions, but the word-meaning ones are quick points.

• Word meaning from context. Cover the word, read the sentence, and say your own word for the gap; then pick the closest choice. The trap is a real meaning of the word that doesn't fit here ("the nurse charted the reading" is recorded, not mapped).
• Author's purpose. Four purposes cover almost every passage: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, to explain how to do something. A passage that gives facts and then says "every family should…" is persuasive, not informative.
• Point of view and tone. First person (I, we), second person (you) or third person (he, they). Tone is the author's attitude: neutral, critical, hopeful, urgent. Look at the adjectives and verbs; "the plan failed to" is critical, "the plan did not" is neutral.
• Fact, opinion, bias and stereotype. A fact can be checked ("The clinic opened in 2019"). An opinion judges ("The clinic is the best in town"). Bias is an author leaving out the other side or using loaded words. A stereotype says all members of a group share a trait.
• Text structure. Cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, sequence, description. Signal words give it away: because, as a result (cause and effect); however, similarly (compare); the solution (problem and solution).
• Text features. Headings, bold words, captions, footnotes, sidebars, an index. A question may ask where in a book you'd look for a term (glossary, index) or what a heading tells you.

Integration of knowledge and ideas: 15 questions

This area asks you to judge a text and connect it to another one. It is as big as key ideas and details, and it is where careful readers lose points by bringing in their own opinions.

• Primary vs secondary sources. A primary source was made at the time by someone involved: a diary, a lab report, a patient's own account, a photograph, a law. A secondary source discusses primary ones: a textbook, an encyclopedia, a review article.
• Evaluating an argument. Find the claim, then the evidence. Ask which choice would most strengthen or weaken it. Evidence that is a single story, out of date, or from someone who profits is weak.
• Comparing two texts. Two short passages on one subject, and a question about where they agree, differ or how the second responds to the first. Write a three-word summary of each before you look at the choices.
• Combining text and graphics. A passage and a chart together: which statement both support, or which detail in the chart the passage leaves out.
• Predictions and conclusions from evidence. "Based on the passage, what will most likely happen next?" The answer follows from the evidence given, not from what usually happens in life.
• Choosing a source. Which source would best answer a research question: a recent peer-reviewed article over a blog, a government health agency over a product site, a dictionary for a definition.

How to read a TEAS passage in about a minute

A fixed routine saves more time than reading faster. Use the same five steps on every passage while you practise, so they are automatic on test day.

1. Read the question first (not the choices). Now you know if you're hunting a detail, the main idea, or a word.
2. Read the passage once, at your normal speed. At the end of each paragraph, name its job in two or three words on scratch paper: "problem", "study result", "author's fix".
3. Answer in your own words before you look at the choices. This keeps a "nearly right" choice from pulling you in.
4. Eliminate: cross out choices that are too broad, too narrow, true but off the question, or not in the passage. With two left, find the word that makes one wrong ("always", "only", "never").
5. Mark and move if you pass 90 seconds. Within a section you can go back to a question before you submit the section, but not after (ATI: sections and going back). Never leave a blank: a wrong answer costs nothing more than a blank.

When several questions share one passage, read the passage once and answer all of them before you move on, rather than rereading it for each question.

TEAS reading practice questions: a sample passage with 8 questions

These are our own questions, written in the style of the three content areas; they are not ATI's items. Give yourself 9 minutes for the passage and all 8 questions, then check the reasons.

1. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the passage?
   A. Rural clinics should open in the evening.
   B. A clinic's missed visits fell after two changes, and it is unclear which change caused it.
   C. Text reminders cut missed visits in half at every rural clinic.
   D. Patients prefer text messages to phone calls.
2. According to the passage, how many patients missed a visit before the change?
   A. One in ten B. One in three C. One in five D. Half
3. As used in the passage, "adopt" most nearly means
   A. take legal custody of B. begin to use C. vote on D. pay for
4. What is the author's main purpose?
   A. To persuade clinics to send texts B. To entertain C. To inform the reader about a result and a disagreement over its cause D. To explain how to send a text reminder
5. Which is an opinion, not a fact?
   A. The clinic added evening hours. B. Every rural clinic in the state should adopt text reminders. C. Missed visits fell to about one in ten. D. Reminders went out two days before each appointment.
6. Which finding would most weaken the manager's argument?
   A. Patients liked the texts. B. Missed visits fell just as much at a nearby clinic that added evening hours but sent no texts. C. Text messages are cheap to send. D. The clinic is in a rural county.
7. The passage is mainly organized as
   A. a sequence of steps B. a description of a place C. a cause-and-effect claim followed by a competing cause D. a comparison of two clinics
8. Which source would best settle the staff's disagreement?
   A. The manager's opinion B. A news story about text messages C. The clinic's records of missed visits for daytime and evening appointments, with and without a text D. A survey of which hours patients prefer

Answers and reasons

1. B. It covers both changes and the doubt about the cause. C overstates (one clinic, not every clinic); A and D are not what the passage is about.
2. C. A detail question: the passage says "about one patient in five". One in ten is after the change.
3. B. Say your own word for the gap: "start using". "Take legal custody of" is a real meaning of adopt, but not here.
4. C. The manager wants to persuade; the author reports the manager's claim and the staff's doubt without taking a side. That is informing.
5. B. "Should" is a judgment. The other three can be checked against the clinic's records.
6. B. If evening hours alone produce the same drop, the texts may not be the cause. A and C don't touch the cause.
7. C. A result, the manager's cause (texts), then a competing cause (evening hours).
8. C. Only data that separates the two changes can show which mattered. The others are opinions or don't measure missed visits.

Questions 1 and 2 are key ideas and details; 3, 4, 5 and 7 are craft and structure; 6 and 8 are integration of knowledge and ideas. Missed 2 or more in one area? Start your plan there. For questions across all four sections, try our TEAS sample questions.

A 14-day TEAS reading study plan

About 40 minutes a day. If you have less time, keep days 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 14. If a practice test already puts reading well above your program's minimum, spend the time on your weakest section instead.

Reading is first on test day and the clock starts with it, so finish the plan with reading timed together with the other sections. A four-week TEAS plan or a one-week plan fits this into the whole exam.

TEAS reading tips and tricks

• The answer is in the passage. Even when you know the subject (many passages are health topics), answer only from what is written.
• Extreme words are usually wrong. All, every, always, never, only, proves. Passages hedge; right answers hedge with them.
• "Most likely" and "best" mean more than one choice could be true. Pick the one with the most support in the text.
• Graphics: units before numbers. A label in milligrams and a choice in grams is a trap built on purpose.
• Bank time on the quick ones. Word-meaning and detail questions take 30 to 40 seconds; spend the saved time on two-text and argument questions.
• Use the scratch paper. Two or three words per paragraph is enough; it saves rereading the whole passage for the next question.

Mistakes that cost points on TEAS reading

• Picking a true detail for a main idea question. It is in the passage, but it isn't what the whole passage is about.
• Inferring too far. The answer must follow from the text, not from what usually happens.
• Choosing the familiar meaning of a word. Context decides; the test picks words with several meanings on purpose.
• Skipping a step in directions. Doing steps in your head instead of on paper.
• Agreeing with the author. "Which is an opinion?" has an answer even when you agree with it.
• Studying only vocabulary. Word meaning is part of craft and structure, the smallest area. Key ideas and integration are 30 of the 39 scored questions.
• Practising untimed. Most applicants can answer TEAS reading questions with no clock; the 73-second pace is what has to be trained.

TEAS reading FAQ

How many questions are on the TEAS reading section?

45 questions in 55 minutes: 39 scored and 6 unscored pretest questions you can't tell apart from the rest.

Is the TEAS reading section first?

Yes. The sections always come in the same order: Reading, Mathematics, Science, then English and language usage.

What is a good TEAS reading score?

One that clears your program's number. Where programs in our list set a reading minimum, it runs from 50% to 73%. Most programs set only an overall minimum, and competitive ones admit above it.

What is the hardest part of TEAS reading?

For most applicants it is the clock, then the integration questions: two texts, arguments and sources. Those 15 questions take the longest and have the closest wrong answers.

Do I need outside knowledge for TEAS reading?

No. Every answer comes from the passage or graphic in front of you. Knowing the topic can even hurt if you answer from what you know instead of what is written.

How long should I study for TEAS reading?

Two weeks at about 40 minutes a day covers every skill above, as in the plan. A timed practice set first tells you whether reading needs that time or another section does.

Sources

• ATI, ATI TEAS exam details (sections, questions, minutes, content areas). Read for our format guide, October 2026.
• ATI, question types on the ATI TEAS Version 7 and sections and going back to a question.
• Nurse.org, TEAS reading lessons; Open Exam Prep, TEAS reading study guide: skill lists per content area. Read 2026-11-01.
• Program reading minimums: each program's own page, linked above and in our program list.

More guides: TEAS English and language usage study guide, TEAS math formulas, what is on the TEAS test, or all guides. To see whether reading is where your points are, take the free practice test: 15 questions across the four sections, scored against your program's minimum.