HSRT Health Sciences Reasoning Test

The HSRT is taken online on a computer in a secure, timed testing interface. Your school or program sets up the test and gives you login information. Many programs require you to test on campus with a proctor, and some allow approved remote testing.

The HSRT measures critical thinking skills, not health science knowledge. Questions are set in clinical, health education and health research contexts, but any specialized information you need is given in the question. Information is presented as text, tables, charts and diagrams.

Each item contributes to an OVERALL critical thinking score and to one or more skill scales:

Insight Assessment does not publish how many questions count toward each scale, and a single item can count toward more than one. This guide gives every scale its own section and its own share of the practice questions.

Every metric, including the OVERALL score, is reported on a 100-point scale. You earn points for each correct answer, and there is no penalty for wrong or skipped answers, so you should answer every question. Each score also receives a qualitative rating.

The four-year HSRT uses the same five ratings. Its score ranges are not shown on the public product page, so check your score report or your program's score interpretation guide. Your OVERALL score also comes with a percentile that compares you with a national group of similar test takers, such as nursing program applicants.

Insight Assessment does not set a passing score. Each program decides what score it requires and how much weight the score carries in admission. For example, one community college asks practical nursing applicants for an overall score of at least 65 and associate degree nursing applicants for at least 70. Other programs use different numbers, so always check your own program's requirement.

• A short argument from a manager, researcher or patient, followed by a question about its conclusion, its assumption or its weakness.
• A scenario on a hospital unit or in a clinic, followed by a question about the best conclusion or the best justification for a decision.
• A table or graph of results, followed by a question about what the data do and do not show.
• A set of rules, such as eligibility criteria or a staffing schedule, followed by a question about what must be true.
• A study description, followed by a question about whether the results show cause and effect.
• A numeric problem about rates, percentages, probability or risk, solved without a calculator.

With 38 questions in 55 minutes or 35 questions in 50 minutes, you have a little under one and a half minutes per question.

Insight Assessment sells the test to schools, and each school sets its own fee, registration rules, retake policy and score-validity period. For example, one college allows two attempts per application cycle with at least 14 days between attempts and accepts scores for two years; other schools set different rules. Check the current fee, retake rule and score validity with your program before you register.