Category Archives for TEAS

Reviewing books for the TEAS exam made us sad.

​The TEAS is a highly important exam for nurses, and the amount of misinformation, errors, and blatant lies present in the books and the TEAS prep industry is horrendous.

​So many companies prey on college students because they know you have to take the test to become a nurse, and so many "book recommendation" websites peddle you books that could've been written by an AP chem student who got a 2 on the exam.

Anyway, we're here to fix this. We looked through all the books, burned the ones that are terrible, and are here to show you the best ones that will actually get you ready for the exam

We also have a list of books to avoid so make sure to check that out and ignore any of the books on that list.

Best TEAS Prep Books & Study Materials

The Ultimate Prep List

We update this list monthly as new books are released and new ones go out of fashion, so let us know if there's a book we should check out!

​1. ATI TEAS Secrets Study Guide

This is the best book to prepare for the exam, but it still isn't perfect.

It does a great job of covering the Reading, English, and Math sections, ​but the Science section isn't the best. 

However, even with the science issues, this book is your best bet for getting a high score on the exam. It's one of the only books designed with the new TEAS in mind, and it is much better than the official test prep materials released by ATI.

This book has 3 practice test with questions that very closely resemble real exam questions, and while the practice exams might be a tiny bit harder than the real thing, they prepare you well and guarantee that if you pass the practice exams, you will pass the real test. (Except for the science section.)

The book is somewhat big at nearly 400 pages, but you don't have to read the whole thing! We recommend taking the first practice exam and studying based off of what you didn't do well on. Also, compared to the other TEAS prep books, this one could be considered short!

To prepare for the science section we recommend either buying this Kaplan book or studying on your own using Khan Academy or other online sources.

​

2. ATI TEAS 6 Full Study Guide

This is the newest book on the market and one of the best one there is. 

The only reason this book isn't number 1 is because many of the questions are a bit harder than the actual exam so if you're in a time crunch you will feel underprepped and stress too much.

However, if you have plenty of time, we recommend starting with this book and then returning to the practice tests in the book above to truly test yourself before the test.

A huge benefit are the online flashcards that come with the book so if you don't want to purchase or log around physical ones, this combo is perfect!

This is also a solid prep option, and we recommend using this as an addition to the TEAS secrets book to prepare for the science section.

​The science section in this book is better than the one in the one above, but it's still not perfect so you might have to consult your previous textbooks or Khan Academy.

The practice questions resemble the actual exam pretty closely, so it's not a bad idea to buy this book even if it's simply for the 2 extra practice exams.

They also offer 50 additional questions online, which is nice, but shouldn't be the deciding factor for purchasing this book.

​All in all, it's not an amazing book, but it's also not terrible. We recommend buying it for the science section and the extra practice.

If you have to study on the go and don't want to create your own flashcards then this is a great option for you.

They're quite expensive, ​but you get over 500 flashcards with detailed questions and answers so we think the price is worth it.

There's not really a point to having math flashcards, but the science, reading, and English ones are great for studying on the go.​

We found a couple of tiny errors on 2 of the cards, but considering that there's over 500 cards with no issues that's not a big deal.​

TEAS Books to Avoid

Sadly the list of good study materials for the TEAS exam ends there.

As we said before, the sheer amount of crap out there is incredible and we want to help you avoid it.

ATI TEAS Review Manual: Sixth Edition Revised

This is the official TEAS prep book, so you would assume that it's actually good, right?

Wrong.

This book is very thin, and it loves telling you "oh, you should study this information online," without telling you where to go.

The material that the book does have is solid, but it's not in-depth enough, and for many sections it just tells you to go use a different textbook or search for it somewhere else. 

The practice questions are also a joke. You get only 3 practice questions per chapter and they're not even in the same format as the exam!

The TEAS is entirely multiple choice, but this book gives you short answer, essays, fill in the blank, etc. 

Don't buy this book!

​Study Manual for the Test of Essential Academic Skills

This book used to be an amazing resources for the TEAS exam, but the exam was changed in 2016 so it is now obsolete.

​This book was created to prepare you for the TEAS 5 test, and while there is some overlap between the TEAS 6 and the previous exam, it's best to get a book that focuses on preparing you for the new exam.

However, ​you can buy this book and use it for preparing for the new exam as long as you realize that you'll have to use other sources to make sure you're not missing anything and that you don't study extraneous information that you don't need.

The science section in this book is great, and while there was a shift from scientific reasoning to more set-in-stone scientific concepts for the new exam, this book is still not too bad for it.​

​ATI TEAS Practice Tests Version 6

This book blatantly lies to your face.

It says that the book is created for the new exam, but nothing except the cover has been updated and it's still the same book that was made for the TEAS 5.

The book also has a ridiculous amount of mistakes in the math and science section, and often the answer key doesn't match up with the questions.

​ATI TEAS 6 Study Guide: TEAS Review Manual

Would you like to purchase a book that was either written by someone with no understanding of science or not edited at all?

Buy this book then! It's guaranteed to bring your TEAS score down instead of up! :/

In all seriousness, this book has an incredibly amount of mistakes and errors, and it's basically the same book as their TEAS 5 one.

McGraw- Hill Education TEAS Value Pack

The quality of the books in the pack is solid, but they were made for the TEAS 5 exam and not the new one.

It doesn't mention which version of the exam the books were printed for anywhere on the books or the combo pack which makes it easy to purchase it without realizing that it won't actually help you prepare for the new exam!

TEAS FAQ

We're sure you have a ton of questions about the exam, so here's the answer to some of them!

How long is the exam?

The exam is 209 minutes with 64 minutes dedicated to Reading, 54 to math, 63 to Science, and 28 to English.

​How is the TEAS scored?

​There are a total of 170 questions on the exam, but only 150 of those will be scored.

You will get a % correct for each section and an overall %.

​How many hours should you study for the TEAS?

​It depends on how well you remember your math and science.

The reading and writing sections are generally easy, but the math and science are the harder ones. Most people struggle with science so we recommend taking a practice exam and seeing how well you do.

We recommend studying for at least 10 hours, but some people might have to do only 5, and others might have to do more than 50. ​

Can I use TEAS V books to prepare for the new TEAS exam?

​We really, really, don't recommend it because you'll have to make sure not to study material that's not on the new exam and to find ways to study material that is on the new exam, but not on the old one.

There's a high chance that you might miss something, so we recommend buying study guides created specifically for the new TEAS.​