Welcome to the number 1 prep hub for the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT).
- Learn about the test’s content with examples.
- Take a free HSRT practice test.
- Learn about the format and scores.
- Get answers to any questions you have about the exam.
Table of Contents
HSRT Test Explained
The Health Sciences Reasoning Test measures critical thinking skills in clinical contexts. It is a popular admissions tool in academic nursing programs across the United States.
- 55 minutes
- 38 multiple choice questions
- Short passages, images/graphics
- Online & offline administration
Frequently Asked Questions
No, calculators, mobile phones, and any other aids are prohibited.Â
Some of the questions on the HSRT are challenging and require very good analysis and reasoning skills. Thus, to an extent, you could say that the HSRT is hard.
However, it doesn’t require any prior knowledge in clinical/health sciences. Instead, it tests your critical thinking skills.Â
To summarize, a proportion of questions of the HSRT are difficult, but with enough training, you should be able to tackle most, if not all of them, and still get a reasonable score that can get you into the program of your dreams.
A score would be considered good if it is above the average population’s score, which is 21/38.Â
Free HSRT Practice Test
Take our practice test which includes 10 questions and has a 10-minute time limit.Â
Take our testHSRT Content
The HSRT presents clinical/professional scenarios in text and graphical formats. It does NOT require prior knowledge in a specific branch of health science and is meant to be solved using commonsense.Â
Let’s examine a simplified practice question together:
Question: Which conclusion is best supported by these findings?
- Daily home exercises should replace traditional physical therapy
- Combining home exercises with PT may improve mobility outcomes
- The home exercise group had more motivated patients
- Ten minutes of exercise daily is the optimal duration
- Physical therapy alone is ineffective for knee surgery recovery
HSRT Critical Thinking Subscales
- AnalysisÂ
- Interpretation
- InferenceÂ
- EvaluationÂ
- Explanation
- InductionÂ
- DeductionÂ
- Numeracy (quantitative reasoning)
Firstly, these subscales are all taken from the Delphi Report, an extensive research work led by Dr. Peter A. Facione which mapped all the critical thinking skills that students and practitioners should posses. For more geeky information on this, you can read the paper here.Â
These definitions don’t mean much without live examples. However, it is important to note that you will need basic math skills for some questions.Â
HSRT Scores
An overall score of 15 to 20 correct answers indicates moderate critical-thinking abilities.
21 to 25 correct answers indicate strong critical-thinking abilities.
26 correct answers and above indicate superior critical-thinking abilities.
More FAQs
AD stands for Associate Degree.Â
The HSRT-AD is not different from the HSRT.Â
Yes, you can. In fact, it is highly recommended to have something to jot down conclusions or to calculate things.Â
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Yes, you can.Â
External Resources
- Insight Assessment, the publishers of the HSRT: HSRT product page
- Minnesota State University offers a free sample test to its students. Here’s their HSRT webpage.
