Provided by HESI A2 Exam Preparation Guide
The Academic Center for Excellence 1 March 2022
HESI A2 Nursing Entrance Exam Preparation Guide
The HESI A2 is an entrance exam for the Nursing Program at Germanna Community College.
The exam has six sections: Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Math, Chemistry, Anatomy &
Physiology, and Critical Thinking. This handout will discuss each section of the HESI A2 exam
and provide resources students can use to prepare for it.
Exam Overview
The HESI A2 exam is proctored by the Testing Center and information for scheduling an
appointment can be found at https://www.germanna.edu/testing/nursing-health-testing/.
Students will complete each section of the exam during one testing session. Although there is
no time limit for the exam, it is recommended to set aside at least four hours to take it. After
completing a section, it will be scored before students can move on and start the next. While
taking the exam, students cannot skip questions, nor will they be able to return to questions
they have previously answered. However, students may use a basic on-screen calculator to
complete the math portion of the test. Lastly, the exam can only be taken twice, with at least
14 days between the two attempts.
Sections of the HESI A2 Exam
English
The English section of the HESI A2 contains two subsections: Reading Comprehension and
Vocabulary. Each subsection contains 55 questions.
Reading Comprehension
This subsection presents reading passages where students will have to:
• Identify the main idea and supporting details
• Use context clues to determine word meanings
• Decipher between fact and opinion
• Summarize part of a passage
• Make inferences based on the context of a passage
