HESI A2 Anatomy and Physiology Practice Test: Free Drill

What is on the HESI A2 Anatomy and Physiology section?

About 30 questions in 25 minutes, 25 or so scored, on 7 topics: terminology and organization, cells, tissues and skin, skeleton and muscles, nervous system and senses, endocrine system, cardiovascular and respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive.

HESI A2 Anatomy and Physiology, as schools describe it, with where each fact comes from
Questions	30 shown, about 25 scored; the unscored pilot questions look the sameReportedGateway Technical College, HESI A2 testing (questions and minutes per section)
Time	25 minutes on this section's own clockReportedGateway Technical College, HESI A2 testing (questions and minutes per section)
Even pace	About 50 seconds a question (25 × 60 ÷ 30)LifeScore
Scoring	Percent correct for the section, shown on your score report with a cumulative scoreReportedCentral Texas College, HESI A2 information sheet (on-screen calculator, score report)
Required?	Only if your program lists it: each program picks the sections and sets the minimumReportedChamberlain University, HESI Admission Assessment (A2) exam FAQs
In our full mock	8 questions in 8 minutes, the same pace on a shorter sectionLifeScore

Elsevier does not publish one public spec sheet for the HESI A2, so the question counts and times here are the ones schools publish for their own candidates, labelled Reported. On 20 October 2026 our build environment could not open Elsevier's or most schools' pages directly, so each was read through search-result text from the named page. Your program's own testing page always wins.

What does each HESI Anatomy and Physiology topic ask?

Every major system appears, but the cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine and respiratory systems carry the most questions in most review books.

The topics follow the chapters of Elsevier's Admission Assessment Exam Review. "What it covers" is the content; "how it reads" is our description of the questions you will meet, from writing and checking hundreds of them.

Terminology and organization
What it covers: Directional terms, body planes, cavities, levels of organization and homeostasis.
How it reads: Short definition questions: "The wrist is ___ to the elbow."
Cells, tissues and skin
What it covers: The four tissue types, layers of the skin and their glands.
How it reads: Which tissue lines cavities? Which layer holds the sweat glands?
Skeleton and muscles
What it covers: Bone types and cells, joints, muscle types and how contraction works.
How it reads: Osteoclasts versus osteoblasts; actin and myosin; calcium's role.
Nervous system and senses
What it covers: Central and peripheral divisions, brain regions, action potentials, the eye and ear.
How it reads: Which part of the brain controls balance? What causes depolarization?
Endocrine system
What it covers: Glands and their hormones, and feedback loops.
How it reads: Which hormone raises blood glucose? What does ADH do?
Cardiovascular and respiratory
What it covers: Blood flow through the heart, vessels, blood cells, gas exchange and control of breathing.
How it reads: The order of chambers and valves is a favorite.
Digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive
What it covers: Digestive organs and enzymes, the nephron, white cells and immunity, hormones of the cycle.
How it reads: Where is most absorption? What is the nephron?

What do HESI A2 Anatomy and Physiology questions look like?

Three original questions: blood flow, a hormone's effect and a directional term, each with the reasoning.

Try each one before you open the answer. They are original, written by us in the HESI A2 style, and are not real HESI items or questions from our mocks. The first is worked open.

HESI A2-style question 1 · Cardiovascular
Which blood vessel carries oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle to the lungs?
1. AAorta
2. BPulmonary artery
3. CPulmonary vein
4. DSuperior vena cava
Worked answer
B: Pulmonary artery. Arteries carry blood away from the heart. The pulmonary artery leaves the right ventricle for the lungs, carrying blood low in oxygen.
1. Away from the heart means an artery.
2. The right ventricle pumps to the lungs: the pulmonary circuit.
3. So the pulmonary artery, the one artery that carries oxygen-poor blood.
The trap: Assuming arteries always carry oxygen-rich blood. The direction of flow, not the oxygen, defines an artery.
HESI A2-style question 2 · Endocrine
A patient's parathyroid glands are removed. Which blood level is most likely to fall?
1. ACalcium
2. BSodium
3. CGlucose
4. DPotassium
Show the worked answer
A: Calcium. Parathyroid hormone raises blood calcium by releasing it from bone and increasing its absorption. Without the glands, calcium falls.
1. Name the hormone: parathyroid hormone (PTH).
2. Recall its job: raise blood calcium.
3. Remove the source and the level it raises will fall.
The trap: Confusing PTH with calcitonin from the thyroid, which lowers calcium.
HESI A2-style question 3 · Terminology
Which term describes the position of the knee relative to the ankle?
1. ADistal
2. BMedial
3. CInferior
4. DProximal
Show the worked answer
D: Proximal. The knee is nearer than the ankle to where the leg attaches at the hip, so it is proximal to the ankle.
1. On a limb, use proximal and distal: nearer or farther from the trunk.
2. The knee is nearer the hip than the ankle is.
3. So the knee is proximal to the ankle.
The trap: Choosing distal by picturing the ankle's position instead of the knee's.

Make Anatomy and Physiology a section you bank

Twelve questions show the gap. 4 more Anatomy and Physiology drills and 8 full seven-section mocks close it.

The HESI A2 Pass Pack gives you 8 full mocks on the real clock, 28 drills of 12 questions for the sections that cost you points, and a predictor that turns your mocks into the odds of reaching your target. One payment, no subscription, and your free score stays free.

Prep courses for these tests usually cost $19 to $129. The HESI A2 Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.

See the HESI A2 Pass Pack How our questions are built and checked

8
timed mocks: 28
topic drills: 1
score predictor

Which facts about each body system come up most?

The table gives one or two facts per system that review books return to again and again. Learn these before anything finer.

Our summary of high-yield facts by system
System	Facts worth knowing cold
Cardiovascular	Right atrium, tricuspid, right ventricle, pulmonary valve, lungs, left atrium, mitral, left ventricle, aortic valve. SA node is the pacemaker.
Respiratory	Gas exchange by diffusion in the alveoli; surfactant stops collapse; rising carbon dioxide drives breathing.
Nervous	Cerebellum: balance. Medulla: breathing and heart rate. Sodium in causes depolarization. Myelin speeds conduction.
Endocrine	Pituitary is the master gland; insulin lowers glucose, glucagon raises it; ADH saves water; aldosterone saves sodium.
Digestive	Most absorption in the small intestine; liver makes bile, gallbladder stores it; amylase starts starch digestion in the mouth.
Urinary	The nephron filters blood at the glomerulus; ureters carry urine to the bladder; kidneys release erythropoietin.
Musculoskeletal	206 bones; osteoclasts break bone down, osteoblasts build it; ligaments join bone to bone, tendons muscle to bone.
Immune	Neutrophils are the most common white cells; B cells make antibodies; T cells mature in the thymus; vaccines give active artificial immunity.
Reproductive	An LH surge triggers ovulation; fertilization usually happens in the fallopian tube; the corpus luteum makes progesterone.

How should I pace the HESI Anatomy and Physiology section?

Aim for about 50 seconds a question on average: faster on the questions you know, so the hard ones get the time they need. Use these checkpoints.

Our checkpoints, from the reported 30 questions in 25 minutes
When	Where you should be	What to do
6 minutes in	Question 8	On pace: keep going
13 minutes in	Question 15	Behind by 3 or more? Guess and move on from any question past a minute
19 minutes in	Question 23	Leave the last minutes for a guess on every blank

Anatomy questions are recall: you know the answer in 15 seconds or you do not. Answer what you know at once, and use elimination on the rest rather than rereading.

Questions that describe a scenario (a gland removed, a patient losing blood) ask for one step of reasoning. Name the organ's normal job, then reverse it.

A wrong answer and a blank both score zero on a percent-correct score, so never leave a question empty when the clock is about to run out.

What traps cost the most points on HESI Anatomy and Physiology?

Most misses come from pairs that are easy to swap under time pressure.

Swapping pairs: osteoblast and osteoclast, tendon and ligament, afferent and efferent, mitral and tricuspid.
Assuming every artery carries oxygen-rich blood (the pulmonary artery does not).
Mixing up hormones from neighboring glands: PTH and calcitonin, insulin and glucagon.
Reading "superior" for "proximal": both can be true, but limbs use proximal and distal.

How should I study for HESI Anatomy and Physiology?

Thirty minutes a day for a week, two systems a day, then a timed mixed set.

Our plan, with minutes a day

Day 1
30 min
Take the free drill above. Note the systems you missed.
Day 2
30 min
Terminology, cells and tissues, skin.
Day 3
30 min
Skeleton and muscles; draw a sarcomere.
Day 4
30 min
Nervous and endocrine: make a gland, hormone and effect table.
Day 5
30 min
Cardiovascular and respiratory: trace blood through the heart aloud.
Day 6
30 min
Digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive.
Day 7
25 min
A timed mixed set, then review only your misses.

How much does Anatomy and Physiology count for nursing school admission?

Anatomy and physiology is required by many RN and allied health programs, though not all; some set a minimum for it, others leave it out.

Programs differ most on the science sections. Some RN programs require anatomy and physiology with a minimum of its own; FSCJ's dental hygiene program averages it with reading, vocabulary and chemistry; others do not test it at all. Check your program before studying, using the HESI A2 passing score page as a starting point.

The same content appears on the TEAS science section, so the TEAS science practice test is useful extra practice.

Scores reach your Evolve account within about 24 to 48 hours, with a percentage for each section and a cumulative score. Retake rules are set by each school. Baylor, for example, allows at most three attempts with 60 days between them.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are on HESI A2 anatomy and physiology?

Schools list 30 questions in 25 minutes, with 25 scored.

What is on HESI anatomy and physiology?

Terminology and every major body system, from cells and tissues to the cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune and reproductive systems.

Do all programs require the A&P section?

No. Your program chooses the sections. Many RN and allied health programs require it; some practical nursing programs do not.

Is the free A&P drill the real HESI?

No. It is 12 original HESI A2-style questions at the real section pace. LifeScore is not affiliated with Elsevier.

All seven sections, on the real clocks

8 full HESI A2-style mocks, 28 section drills (4 for Anatomy and Physiology) and every answer worked, in one payment with no subscription.