Need to know how to pass the TEAS reading section? You’ve come to the right place! In this post you will learn exactly what is on the reading TEAS test and get tips to pass the TEAS reading section in 2024.
What’s on the Reading TEAS test?
The ATI TEAS 7 Reading section has 45 total questions. Of these, 39 questions are scored. The TEAS 7 Reading section is smaller than previous versions.
You won’t know for sure what is scored or not scored, and the TEAS test mixes up all the question types.
That said, you will have a standardized breakdown of your scored questions.
By the way, the Reading section is the second-longest section of the TEAS nursing entrance exam; science is the biggest section.
The TEAS Reading section is 55 minutes long. This means that you’ll have a little more than a minute per question. You have about a minute to read a passage, clarify the question, and examine the answer options to select the right one. Your time might feel tight, and that’s OK.
When you sit down to take the TEAS reading section, stay calm and pace yourself. You are in this for the long haul.
Tip #1: Know the structure of the reading TEAS test
You will have 15 scored questions on the “big picture” of different types of texts.
For each of the ATI TEAS Reading passages, you might see anywhere from 1 to 7 questions. These include academic style passages, memos, directions, and graphics.
These questions focus on big ideas. For example, you might need to:
- Find the main idea of an entire passage
- Discuss the organization of a passage
- Summarize the passage
- Follow the instructions in the passage.
These are important skills to know if you want to learn how to pass ATI TEAS Reading.
You will have 9 scored questions that are more about examining specifics of the text.
For instance, you might need to:
- Determine specific lines of text that indicate an author’s opinion or point of view
- Find the best meaning of a specific word in a passage
- Indicate how specific text features are used (like bold, italics, or subheadings)
- Identify a text structure
You’ll have 15 scored questions that focus on connecting ideas together. You might need to evaluate an argument or draw conclusions from it. You might be asked to assess sources (are they reliable?) or to assess the overall argument in a text (does it use too much emotion instead of fact?).
Examples of these questions include:
- Selecting primary, secondary, or tertiary sources
- Evaluating arguments for their strength and selecting improvements
- Analyze data from charts and graphs to show if they support an argument
- Examine genre, social commentary, themes
Now, you will see all of these questions all mixed in together in one big happy TEAS beast mess. 😀
For example, you might see one passage that has questions on each of these three subsections. On top of that, you might have an unscored question on a passage, too.
Tip #2: Know the types of questions on TEAS reading passages
You’ll notice that the TEAS Reading Test features different kinds of questions and that you might have to flip back and forth between the questions and the passage to answer them.
This can get overwhelming quickly, so I recommend that my students focus on breaking these TEAS reading questions types into three general categories:
- Questions that require you to examine the entire passage
- Questions that require you to look at specific sections or words
- Questions that require you to use critical thinking and make connections beyond the passage
Understanding what you should do on each of these types of TEAS reading questions can help you pass the reading test!
3 Types of Reading TEAS Test Questions
TEAS Reading Question Type #1: Questions that involve finding the key ideas of ATI TEAS reading passages and paragraphs.
These questions might be about passage structure, organization, or topic, summary, or main idea. You might also need to follow directions.
These questions often require looking at the big picture of, well, a big passage. In my TEAS Prep course, we talk about how to pinpoint the right answer quickly so that you don’t get overwhelmed by a big wall of text.
TEAS Reading Question Type #2: Questions that focus on specific words and details involve analyzing the author’s tone or bias, determining word meaning, or working with text features like italics.
These questions are all about the details. Many times, you don’t need to read the entire passage to find the answer. In the course, we talk about strategies you can use for specific types of detail questions.
TEAS Reading Question Type #3: Questions that involve using sources, including looking at themes, using charts or graphs, and finding primary sources.
Answering these questions correctly often requires memorizing specific concepts. In this course, you’ll get guidance on what to memorize so that you can answer these questions with confidence.
In short, you’ll need to recognize if a TEAS question requires you to look at the big picture, the details, or the application.
This big picture, small picture, or application strategy is one strategy to follow if you want to know how to increase your TEAS reading score and pass successfully.
Learn How to Pass the TEAS Reading section with strategy
To learn how to pass the TEAS reading test you need to learn time-saving strategies.
Most study guides do not discuss time-saving strategies. In my online TEAS prep course, we cover methods to save time on specific types of questions.
One of the TEAS exam reading tips I give my students is to look for TEAS Reading questions where you likely don’t have to look at the entire passage. These include…
- Questions that ask you to find the author’s opinion or bias
- Questions that ask you to follow a set of instructions
- Questions that ask you to define a specific word or phrase
Using these strategies is a skill but so helpful! Using these strategies is a skill but so so helpful! Review with Prenursing Smarter’s ATI TEAS secrets and study guides for an extra studying boost.
One of my past students said, “My Reading section score was crazy! I scored a 90 percent. I’m so happy that I found your program. I really feel that it prepared me, especially with that awful Reading section.” These tips take practice, but they do work.
One of my best TEAS reading tips to improve your TEAS Reading score is to always read the question first. This is helpful for a few reasons:
- You can see if there’s a time-saving strategy to use quickly, as specific question types can use specific strategies.
- You can avoid getting confused by purposely confusing extra information.
- You can quickly determine if the question requires you to read the entire passage or just a section of the passage.
Finally, the ATI TEAS 7 is a standardized test, and standardized tests are designed to make you feel the time pressure.
Learning how the TEAS reading tests are structured can help you avoid these traps. The reading sections of standardized tests use many of the same tricks to make these sections seem extra challenging.
You can practice these topics over time. For further help in studying, take TEAS reading practice tests. Yes, the Reading section can be a lot of information but, with focus, you can absolutely do it.
If you’d like step by step guidance for TEAS Reading, I encourage you to enroll in the Prenursing Smarter TEAS Prep program.
