TEAS science practice test 2026: free timed drill and section guide

TEAS Science is 50 questions in 60 minutes (44 scored), the biggest section on the exam: Human Anatomy and Physiology 18 scored, Biology 9, Chemistry 8 and Scientific Reasoning 9. At 72 seconds a question it is mostly recall, so the fastest way up is anatomy and physiology, one body system at a time.

50
questions (44 scored): 60 min
on its own clock: 72 s
a question, evenly paced: 18
scored: Human Anatomy and Physiology

Last checked 20 October 2026 · Section facts from ATI's own pages

Free Science drill: 12 original TEAS-style questions in 14:24, the real section's pace. Your score, your time per question and the question that cost you most, explained. No sign-up.

Free TEAS Science drill · real section pace

12
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14:24
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By the LifeScore Editorial Team · Updated 20 October 2026 · How we check facts · How this is scored

What is on the TEAS Science section?

50 questions in 60 minutes, 44 of them scored, across 4 sub-areas: Human Anatomy and Physiology (18), Biology (9), Chemistry (8), Scientific Reasoning (9).

TEAS Science, ATI TEAS Version 7, with where each fact comes from
Questions	50 shown: 44 scored and 6 unscored pretest items you cannot tell apartPublished by the ownerATI, "TEAS exam details"
Time	60 minutes on its own clock; time left over does not carry to the next sectionPublished by the ownerATI help, "What is the time limit for the ATI TEAS?"
Even pace	72 seconds an item (60 × 60 ÷ 50)LifeScore
Sub-areas (scored items)	Human Anatomy and Physiology 18, Biology 9, Chemistry 8, Scientific Reasoning 9Published by the ownerATI help, "ATI TEAS content areas and question counts"
Share of the scored test	44 of 150 scored items, 29%LifeScore
Position	Section 3 of 4 (Reading, Math, Science, English and Language Usage), straight after the optional 10-minute breakPublished by the ownerATI help, "TEAS sections, timing, and going back"
Going back	Inside the open section you can move around, flag and change answers; once you submit it, it is closedPublished by the ownerATI help, "TEAS sections, timing, and going back"
Question types	Mostly multiple choice; across the exam about 20% are multiple select, fill in the blank, ordered response or hot spot, with no partial creditPublished by the ownerATI help, "ATI TEAS question types with examples"

What does each TEAS Science sub-area ask?

Human Anatomy and Physiology carries 18 of the 44 scored science questions, about 41% of the section and 12% of the whole TEAS, more than Biology and Chemistry together.

Sub-areas and scored counts are ATI's. "What it covers" follows ATI's Version 7 content outline, except Scientific Reasoning, whose objectives we could not confirm word for word, so its description is ours. "How it reads" is our description.

Human Anatomy and Physiology
18 scored
What it covers: General orientation of the body (planes, directions, cavities) and eleven body systems: respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, nervous, muscular, reproductive, integumentary, endocrine, urinary, immune and skeletal.
How it reads: Which organ does what, the path of blood, air or food, and what happens when one part fails. Direct recall, often with a short clinical framing.
Biology
9 scored
What it covers: Cell structure and organisation, how genetic material relates to protein structure, Mendel's laws of inheritance, the basic biological macromolecules, and the role of microorganisms in disease.
How it reads: Organelles, DNA to RNA to protein, Punnett squares, and which molecule is built from which subunit.
Chemistry
8 scored
What it covers: Atomic structure, the physical properties and changes of matter, chemical reactions and what speeds them up, properties of solutions, and acids and bases.
How it reads: Protons, neutrons and electrons, states of matter, balancing a simple reaction, and what a pH number means.
Scientific Reasoning
9 scored
What it covers: ATI lists it as its own sub-area with 9 scored items. In our reading of the outline it is about how science is done: measurement, the design of an experiment and drawing conclusions from evidence.
How it reads: A short experiment with its variables, a measurement or unit, a data table, or which conclusion the evidence supports.

What do TEAS Science questions look like?

Five original questions, one or two per sub-area: the heart, the kidney, DNA to RNA, pH, and a short experiment, each with the working and the usual trap.

Cover the answer and commit to a choice first: science on the TEAS rewards instant recall, and these show you quickly which system or topic is not yet automatic. They are original, multiple choice only, and not real TEAS items.

TEAS-style question 1 · Anatomy and physiology
Blood returning from the lungs enters which chamber of the heart first?
1. ARight atrium
2. BRight ventricle
3. CLeft atrium
4. DLeft ventricle
Worked answer
C: Left atrium. Oxygenated blood travels from the lungs through the pulmonary veins into the left atrium, then the left ventricle pumps it to the body.
1. Trace the loop: body → right atrium → right ventricle → lungs.
2. From the lungs, blood returns through the pulmonary veins.
3. The pulmonary veins empty into the left atrium.
The trap: Answering right atrium, which receives blood from the body. Say the loop out loud once; the side that sends to the lungs is not the side that receives from them.
TEAS-style question 2 · Anatomy and physiology
In the kidney, where is blood first filtered to form the fluid that becomes urine?
1. AGlomerulus
2. BLoop of Henle
3. CCollecting duct
4. DUreter
Worked answer
A: Glomerulus. Filtration happens at the glomerulus, a tuft of capillaries inside the nephron's capsule. The tubule and loop then reabsorb water and solutes; the ureter only carries urine to the bladder.
1. Order the nephron: glomerulus and capsule, then the tubules and loop of Henle, then the collecting duct.
2. Filtration is the first step, so it happens at the start: the glomerulus.
3. The ureter is outside the kidney's filtering units altogether.
The trap: Choosing the loop of Henle because it is the best-known part. It concentrates urine; it does not filter blood.
TEAS-style question 3 · Biology
A DNA template strand reads T-A-C. Which mRNA codon is transcribed from it?
1. AA-T-G
2. BA-U-G
3. CU-A-C
4. DT-A-C
Show the worked answer
B: A-U-G. Transcription pairs A with U (RNA has no T), T with A, and C with G. T-A-C becomes A-U-G.
1. Pair each base: T → A, A → U, C → G.
2. RNA uses uracil (U) where DNA uses thymine (T).
3. The codon is A-U-G.
The trap: Writing A-T-G, which pairs correctly but uses thymine. In RNA there is no T.
TEAS-style question 4 · Chemistry
Solution X has a pH of 3 and solution Y has a pH of 5. How does the hydrogen ion concentration of X compare with Y?
1. A2 times higher
2. B20 times higher
3. C100 times higher
4. D100 times lower
Show the worked answer
C: 100 times higher. Each step on the pH scale is a factor of 10 in hydrogen ion concentration. Two steps lower is 10 × 10 = 100 times more hydrogen ions, so X is the more acidic.
1. Find the gap: 5 − 3 = 2 pH units.
2. Each unit is ×10, so two units is 10² = 100.
3. Lower pH means more hydrogen ions, so X has 100 times more.
The trap: Treating pH as a straight-line scale (2 times). It is logarithmic: every whole number is ten times the next.
TEAS-style question 5 · Scientific reasoning
A student puts the same amount of sugar into three cups of water at 10 °C, 30 °C and 50 °C, stirs each the same way, and times how long the sugar takes to dissolve. What is the dependent variable?
1. AWater temperature
2. BTime for the sugar to dissolve
3. CAmount of sugar
4. DWay the cups are stirred
Show the worked answer
B: Time for the sugar to dissolve. The dependent variable is what the experiment measures in response to the change: the time to dissolve. Temperature is changed on purpose (independent); sugar and stirring are held constant (controls).
1. Find what the student changes on purpose: temperature, the independent variable.
2. Find what is measured as a result: dissolving time, the dependent variable.
3. Everything kept the same (sugar, stirring) is a controlled variable.
The trap: Picking temperature because it is the most "scientific" word. Ask: what is being timed or counted? That is the dependent variable.

Make Science a section you bank

Twelve questions show the gap. 4 more Science drills and 6 full mocks close it.

The TEAS Pass Pack gives you 6 full mocks on the real clock, 16 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 TEAS Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.

See the TEAS Pass Pack How our questions are built and checked

6
timed mocks: 16
topic drills: 1
score predictor

Which body systems should I know for TEAS Science?

All eleven in ATI's outline, from respiratory to skeletal; for each, know the main organs, what each does, and how the system hands off to the next.

The systems are ATI's (Version 7 content outline). What to learn for each is our study list.
System	Learn first
Cardiovascular	Path of blood through the four chambers and valves; arteries carry blood away from the heart
Respiratory	Air path to the alveoli; gas exchange; the diaphragm's role in breathing
Digestive	Order of organs; where most absorption happens (small intestine); bile, liver and gallbladder
Nervous	Central versus peripheral; brain regions (cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem); the neuron and synapse
Urinary	Kidney, nephron, ureter, bladder, urethra; filtration, reabsorption, secretion
Endocrine	Major glands and one hormone each: insulin, thyroxine, cortisol, adrenaline, ADH
Immune and lymphatic	White blood cell types; innate versus adaptive; antibodies and vaccines
Muscular and skeletal	Three muscle types; bone types; joints; how muscles and bones work as levers
Integumentary	Skin layers and their jobs; temperature control
Reproductive	Male and female organs and hormones; meiosis and fertilisation
General orientation	Anatomical position, body planes, directional terms (proximal, distal, medial, lateral) and body cavities

Learn each system as a chain rather than a list: the TEAS likes questions that start in one organ and ask what happens next.

How should I pace the TEAS Science section?

About 72 seconds an item on an even pace, or 66 seconds on a first pass that keeps 5 minutes back, with item 25 done by minute 28.

Our arithmetic from ATI's item count and time limit
Mark	Number	What it means
Even pace	72 s an item	60 minutes for 50 items, counting the unscored ones because you cannot spot them
First pass	66 s an item	Keep 5 minutes back for flagged items, so the first pass runs a little faster than even
Halfway check	Item 25 by minute 28	Behind? Guess on the next slow one, flag it and move on
Reserve	5 min	Return to flags in order of how close you were; never leave one blank, as guessing carries no penalty
Our free drill	12 items in 14:24	The same seconds per item as the real section

Science is recall-heavy, which is good news for pacing: a question you know takes 20 seconds, and that bank of time pays for the experiment and chemistry items that need reading. A question you do not know does not get easier with a third minute. Guess, flag and move on.

Science comes straight after the optional 10-minute break that follows Math. Take the break: Science is the longest section, and starting it fresh matters more than the minutes, which do not count against your time anyway.

What traps cost the most points on TEAS Science?

Mixing up left and right sides of the heart, confusing similar-sounding structures, forgetting RNA has no thymine, treating pH as linear, and naming the wrong variable in an experiment.

Left and right of the heart. The right side sends blood to the lungs; the left receives it back and sends it to the body.
Look-alike words: ureter and urethra, afferent and efferent, mitosis and meiosis, artery and vein. Make a two-column flashcard for each pair.
DNA rules in RNA questions. RNA swaps thymine for uracil; transcription and translation are different steps.
pH as a straight line. Each whole number is a factor of 10.
Independent versus dependent. The independent variable is changed on purpose; the dependent one is measured.
Studying chemistry first because it feels hard. It is 8 scored items; anatomy and physiology is 18.

How should I study for TEAS Science?

Seven days: a baseline drill, three days of anatomy and physiology, one each for biology and chemistry, and a mixed timed day to check it holds.

Our plan, with minutes a day

Day 1
30 min
Take the free science drill on this page. List each miss by sub-area and by body system.
Day 2
60 min
Anatomy and physiology: cardiovascular and respiratory as one loop, then 15 questions.
Day 3
60 min
Anatomy and physiology: digestive, urinary and endocrine, then 15 questions.
Day 4
60 min
Anatomy and physiology: nervous, immune, muscular, skeletal, integumentary and reproductive, then 15 questions.
Day 5
45 min
Biology: cell parts, DNA to RNA to protein, Punnett squares and the four macromolecules.
Day 6
45 min
Chemistry and scientific reasoning: atoms, states of matter, pH, and naming the variables in five short experiments.
Day 7
60 min
A full timed TEAS-style mock, so Science comes after Reading and Math as it does on the day.

How much does Science count on the whole TEAS?

Science is worth 44 of the 150 scored items (29%), the largest share of any section, which makes it the best return on study time for most applicants.

Many nursing programs also care about it directly: some set a science minimum alongside the composite, and Touro University in New York asks for 70% in science and math. See what is a good TEAS score, and turn section scores into a total with the TEAS score calculator.

For the other sections, see the TEAS math practice test, the TEAS reading practice test and the TEAS English practice test. Then take the full TEAS practice test and follow how to pass the TEAS.

Frequently asked questions

How many science questions are on the TEAS?

50 in 60 minutes: 44 scored and 6 unscored. Human Anatomy and Physiology has 18 scored questions, Biology 9, Chemistry 8 and Scientific Reasoning 9.

What is the hardest part of TEAS Science?

For most people it is the volume of anatomy and physiology: eleven body systems plus general orientation, worth 18 scored questions. It is recall, so steady daily study works better than one long session.

Is there chemistry on the TEAS 7?

Yes. Chemistry is its own sub-area with 8 scored questions: atomic structure, properties and changes of matter, reactions, solutions, and acids and bases.

Should I study anatomy or chemistry first?

Anatomy and physiology. It carries 18 scored questions against 8 for chemistry, and many questions on it are direct recall you can learn quickly.

Do I need to memorise formulas for TEAS Science?

Very few. Know that each pH unit is a factor of 10, the parts of an experiment, and basic unit conversions; the rest is concepts and terms.

Is the drill on this page the real TEAS?

No. It is 12 original TEAS-style science questions at the real section pace. LifeScore is not affiliated with ATI, and ATI does not publish its real questions.

Know your level before test day

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