TEAS Retake Rules: How Soon You Can Retest and Which Score Your School Sees

Written & reviewed by Quibank Editor · Last reviewed 2026-10-12 · Editorial standards

ATI, the company that writes the TEAS, does not require any waiting period between attempts: you can register for a new date as soon as you like. The real limits come from the nursing program you are applying to, which decides how many attempts it accepts, how long you must wait, and which of your scores it uses, and every scored attempt you take is visible to that program on your official transcript.

That second half is the part that changes strategy. Below is what ATI's own help center says as of October 2026, what three real school policies look like, and how to decide whether a retake helps or hurts you.

What ATI controls, and what it leaves to schools

ATI's help center states it plainly: retake rules are set by the school or program, not by ATI. Some programs cap attempts per year, some require a set gap between sittings, and ATI notes that many have neither, though their application deadlines still shape when a retest is useful.

ATI also says there is no universal passing score. Each program sets its own cut, and ATI expects most schools to want applicants at the Proficient academic preparedness level or above (the five levels run Developmental, Basic, Proficient, Advanced, Exemplary). So a retake decision starts with your target program's number, not with a percentage someone quoted online. If you have not yet seen how the 170-question, 209-minute exam is laid out, the TEAS episode of our podcast walks through the format section by section.

Your attempt history travels with every transcript

ATI's transcript page says that if you have taken the TEAS more than once, you can choose which exam's results to send to each school. Many applicants read that as a way to hide a bad attempt. It is not. ATI's FAQ on the same subject answers the question "Will schools know if I have taken the TEAS more than once?" with a flat yes: the number of attempts is reported on your official transcript.

ATI adds two rules that close the remaining gaps. Each completed and scored TEAS counts as an attempt even if you never send the results anywhere, and schools receive your updated attempt count whenever you submit a transcript to them. Choosing which score to send controls which numbers a school sees, not how many times it sees you tried.

Three real policies, three different rules

School policies diverge more than most applicants expect. These are taken from each school's own published page, and they are examples, not a guide to your program:

El Paso Community College nursing (information sheet revised May 9, 2025): up to four attempts, then a six-month wait after the fourth unsuccessful one, "either at EPCC or at another institution." Retests require a 21-day wait that includes weekends and holidays. Test before day 21 and ATI will still let you register, but the result is invalid for EPCC ranking and ATI issues no refund. Only the most recent score counts, scores are valid for two years, and the 62% minimum composite must come from all four sections in one sitting.
Austin Peay State University's testing center: a minimum 14-day wait between attempts and a maximum of four attempts at that center, after which further retests have to go through ATI's own online proctoring.
Texas State University's St. David's School of Nursing: a 30-day wait between attempts within the same admission cycle.

The El Paso rules show the two traps most worth checking at your own school. First, a "most recent score" policy means a weaker retake replaces a stronger first attempt, so retesting carries real downside. ATI's own advice is to ask whether a program counts your highest, most recent, or first attempt before you re-register. Second, a waiting period the school sets is not enforced at registration, because ATI has no wait of its own. The booking system will take your money for a sitting your program will then refuse to count.

Why you cannot stitch together your best sections

A common hope is to retest only the weak section and combine it with earlier strengths. Policies like El Paso's forbid it, and ATI's scoring explains why schools tend to. ATI's total and content-area scores are equated, meaning they are adjusted for differences in difficulty between test forms, and ATI says content-area scores cannot be used to calculate the total score. Sub-content scores such as Key Ideas and Details are raw percentages that ATI says should not be compared across forms at all.

In practice, your section scores from two different sittings do not add up to a legitimate total, so plan any retake as a full four-section attempt.

The costs that repeat with each attempt

ATI states that every attempt is a new registration and a new fee, and that exams are non-refundable, including a registration in a format your school will not accept. That matters because ATI offers four formats (TEAS at ATI remote, TEAS Online at Institution, TEAS at Institution in person, and TEAS at PSI), and ATI warns that some schools accept only in-person exams on their own campus.

Sending scores is a second cost. A sitting proctored by a school sends its transcript to that school automatically, and you cannot redirect it. TEAS at ATI and TEAS at PSI registrations include one transcript credit you send yourself. Every additional school costs a credit at $29.99 each as of October 2026; ATI says credits never expire and each transcript can be sent to an institution only once. Expect school pages to lag: Texas State's testing page still lists the additional score report fee as $27.

Budget time as well as money. TEAS at ATI scores sit in preliminary status before they are finalized, and ATI's own pages disagree on how long, giving three business days in one place and four in others. Plan for four, plus delivery, when a deadline is close.

When a retake is worth it

ATI says about 40% of students take the TEAS more than once, so a second attempt is ordinary. Whether yours is worth it depends on three answers you can get from your program before you pay: which attempt it counts, how many it allows, and how it ranks applicants. If it counts your highest score, a retake can only help your score, though the extra attempt still shows. If it counts your most recent, retest only when practice scores are clearly above your first result. If it ranks rather than just screens (El Paso weights the TEAS composite at 40% of a 1,200-point ranking), a few points above the minimum can still move your position.

Use the first attempt as your diagnostic. ATI's score report lists the objectives you missed, and ATI's own retake advice is to study those rather than everything. Pair that with timed practice in your weakest section, such as the TEAS science questions, where anatomy and physiology alone is 18 of the 44 scored items on ATI's current blueprint.

Try the free TEAS practice test →