HESI A2 Retake Policy: How Many Times and How Soon Can You Retake It?

The four rules to find

1. Wait period: the minimum time between attempts.
2. Attempt limit: how many attempts count per application cycle, per year, or in total.
3. Sections: whether you can retake only the sections below the cutoff.
4. Which score counts, and for how long: highest, best section scores combined, or one sitting only, and how old a score can be.

Elsevier does not publish a universal attempt limit or waiting period, so the school's rule is the one that counts. Here is how far apart those rules are in programs we checked on October 17, 2026:

• Wait: 30 days at Odessa College, 60 days at Lone Star College and Tarrant County College, 90 days per section at Alvin College, and 3 months at East Carolina University.
• Attempts: one per application period at Tarrant County College, two per application cycle at the University of Arizona, two per academic year at Temple College, and two in total at East Carolina University.
• Which score counts: the highest at the University of Arizona, the best section scores combined across attempts at East Carolina University and Southeast Community College, and only one sitting at Odessa, Temple, and Lone Star.
• How long a score lasts: one year at Arizona and Lone Star, two years at Odessa and Temple, five at Alvin, and no expiration at East Carolina University.

Read the nursing program's own page, and verify with your school before you pay for another attempt. If you test at one school and apply to another, ask how scores transfer: some programs want the official report sent from Elsevier's Evolve system, which can cost a fee, and some accept only scores from in-person testing, not remotely proctored exams.

A retake is not the same test again. Elsevier's faculty guide describes a separate version that schools schedule for second-time testers, so memorizing your first form will not help.

Should you retake?

Use your score and the school's rule to decide:

• Below a section minimum: you need that section to move. Retake if the rules allow it and there is time before the deadline.
• Above every minimum, but the program ranks applicants: a retake can still help if a higher score earns rubric points.
• Comfortably above everything: your time is usually better spent on prerequisites or the rest of the application.

Make the retake count

1. Find exactly what dropped: which section, which topics, and whether misses were content, misreading, or time.
2. Study those topics with practice from memory, not rereading. The six-week plan can be compressed to the weeks you have.
3. Retest on a different practice form, timed, before you book the real retake.
4. Book the official attempt only once your practice score is clearly above the cutoff, with room to spare.

NurseSavvy has 5 full-length HESI A2 practice forms, so a retest uses questions you have not seen. Our scores are practice scores, not official HESI scores.

Plan around the deadline

Work backward from the application deadline: the last day a score can reach the program, minus the wait period, minus the study time you need. If the math does not work, take the first attempt earlier next cycle, or ask admissions about the next application window.

HESI and HESI A2 are registered trademarks of Elsevier. NurseSavvy is not affiliated with or endorsed by Elsevier.