What Is a Good TEAS Score?
5 min read · Updated
There is no universal pass mark on the TEAS. Each nursing programme sets its own cut-off, so a score that gets you into one school may not get you into another. That said, the ranges below hold up well across most of the US.
Typical requirements
| Programme type | Usually competitive at |
|---|---|
| Practical nursing (LPN/LVN) | 55–60% |
| Associate degree (ADN) | 60–70% |
| Bachelor of science (BSN) | 70–80% |
| Highly competitive BSN | 80%+ |
Check your own programmes first
Every school publishes its minimum, and many publish the average score of admitted students. That average matters more than the minimum — meeting the floor rarely gets you a place at a competitive school.
How ATI reports your score
You get a total score as a percentage, a score for each of the four sections, and a proficiency level describing your overall performance. Some programmes look only at the total; others weight Science heavily because it predicts performance in the first year of nursing coursework.
- Developmental — below roughly 41%
- Basic — roughly 41% to 58%
- Proficient — roughly 59% to 77%
- Advanced — roughly 78% to 90%
- Exemplary — above roughly 90%
Proficient is the level most programmes treat as the working minimum. Advanced puts you in a strong position almost anywhere.
Why section scores matter more than you expect
Two students can finish on the same total and be treated very differently. Science is 50 of the 170 questions, so a weak Science score drags the total down and is also the score admissions committees look at hardest for nursing programmes. If you are choosing where to spend your last two weeks of study, spend it there.
How to find your real starting point
A question bank tells you whether you know a fact. A full-length timed test tells you what you will actually score on the day, when you are ninety minutes in and tired. Those two numbers are usually not the same, and the second one is the one that decides admission.