What to Bring to the HESI A2 Exam: Test Day Rules and What to Expect
Elsevier, the publisher of the Health Education Systems, Inc. (HESI) Admission Assessment Exam (HESI A2), documents several ways to sit it, and your program chooses which one you use, as of October 2026: the Elsevier Secure Browser on your own device or a testing center computer, remote proctoring via ProProctor, a Prometric test center, or ProctorU where a program still uses it. Every path starts the same way: you need an active Evolve account to register, launch your exam, and view results and remediation afterward. Elsevier’s own student guides confirm an instructor supplied access code unlocks an on campus or own device session, while a remote session requires a separately scheduled appointment and its own device compatibility check. Elsevier’s distance testing guide requires a non-expired government-issued photo ID with signature whose first and last name match your Evolve registration; mismatched or expired ID means you are not admitted and forfeit the appointment and fees. Temporary IDs may be rejected. Programs can add their own rules. Elsevier does not publish a single national blueprint listing every subtest’s exact item count; each nursing program picks which academic subtests you take, sets its own minimum passing score, and decides calculator rules for its own testing site. Elsevier does not publish a public item count, and batteries vary in length depending on how many subtests your program assigns. Confirm your specific section list, ID requirements, and calculator policy with your program before test day.
Delivery path, Evolve account requirement, and the emergency number come directly from Elsevier’s own HESI A2 guides, checked October 2026. Elsevier does not publish a public item count or subtest list; your program’s registration email is the source that governs your test day.
How Elsevier Documents HESI A2 Delivery
Elsevier’s 2026 documents describe program selected delivery paths, as of October 2026. Your program chooses the delivery path: on site or own device with the Elsevier Secure Browser, remote proctoring via ProProctor, a Prometric test center, or ProctorU where a program still uses it. For an own device or testing center session, you log into Evolve, enter an access code your instructor provides, and download the Elsevier Secure Browser before you can enter the exam. For a remote session, you schedule a specific exam session in advance and complete the proctor’s pre checks on test day before the exam launches. Whether your program uses Elsevier’s HESI NG platform or the earlier platform at hesiinet.elsevier.com referenced in some of Elsevier’s own guides is also your school’s decision. Elsevier’s registration instructions repeatedly point students back to program supplied access codes, Evolve Course IDs, and instructor emails rather than a single universal sign-up flow, so your registration confirmation from your program, not this guide, is the final word on which mode and platform you will use. For what the exam covers, see what is on the HESI A2.
What to Bring and What to Leave at Home
Because Elsevier splits test day rules across separate on campus and remote guides and does not publish a single combined checklist, the table below marks which rows are confirmed directly in Elsevier’s own student guides and which are set entirely by your program, so confirm those before you test.
| Item | Bring or leave | Program dependent? |
|---|---|---|
| Evolve account login (username and password) | Bring it, have it ready | No, confirmed in Elsevier’s own student guides |
| Instructor supplied access code (own device / testing center) or a confirmed remote proctoring appointment (remote) | Bring it, have it ready | No, confirmed in Elsevier’s own student guides |
| Device with the Elsevier Secure Browser pre-installed and Compatibility Check completed | Bring it, set it up before test day | Partly; Elsevier’s own guidance excludes Chromebooks entirely and lists specific unsupported devices such as the iPad Air 1st generation |
| Government issued photo ID | Bring it | Yes for added rules; Elsevier’s distance testing guide requires a non-expired government-issued photo ID with signature matching your Evolve registration name, and temporary IDs may be rejected |
| Calculator | Confirm before assuming either way | Yes; Elsevier’s faculty guide shows an on-screen calculator that each program can enable or disable, so ask your program whether it will be on |
| Phones, smartwatches, and personal electronics not part of your approved testing setup | Leave them out of the testing space | Yes; exact room and device rules are set by your testing center or remote proctor |
| Proof of payment receipt | Bring it only if your institution requires it | Yes; Elsevier’s own guide notes some institutions require this at the test site, others do not |
The On-Screen Calculator and Other Program-Set Rules
The HESI A2 Math subtest tests unit conversions, dosage calculation basics, ratios, and other applied healthcare math, and many computer based math assessments provide an on-screen calculator for exactly this reason. Elsevier’s faculty guide shows an on-screen calculator that each program can enable or disable, so ask your program whether it will be on. Ask your program’s testing coordinator or your proctor before test day whether a calculator will be available on screen and whether a personal calculator is permitted, since the setting belongs to the institution running your exam.
The same program-decides pattern runs through nearly every other structural question a candidate might ask. Elsevier does not publish which academic subtests, math, reading comprehension, vocabulary and general knowledge, grammar, anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, and physics, you must take; your program picks that combination, usually a subset rather than the full battery. Elsevier also does not publish a universal minimum passing score; each program sets its own standard for required sections. Retake eligibility, waiting periods, and any attempt limit are likewise program decisions, not Elsevier’s. Optional aptitude modules, Learning Style, Personality Profile, and Critical Thinking, may also appear depending on your program; these are not academically scored the way the subject subtests are.
If You Are Testing Remotely
Where your program uses ProctorU, Elsevier’s own remote proctoring registration instructions lay out a specific sequence: create your Evolve and ProctorU accounts before you register, add your HESI course in Evolve using a course ID your program provides, then schedule a specific exam date and time inside ProctorU, completing any proctoring fee payment ProctorU’s own process requires. Before test day, check device compatibility separately in both ProctorU, where you download the Guardian Browser from the ProctorU HESI Test-Taker Portal, and in your HESI NG course, where you run the Compatibility Check and download the Elsevier Secure Browser. On test day, log into ProctorU a few minutes ahead of your scheduled time and click “Start Session”; a live proctor completes your exam pre checks and then launches you into the exam inside the Secure Browser. Elsevier’s guides note that exiting the exam or closing the Secure Browser mid-test may lock you out until a proctor helps you back in, and that running out of your allotted time produces a timeout and disconnects you from the exam, so treat the on-screen clock as final in any delivery mode.
Confirm With Your Program Before Test Day
The HESI A2 is not administered by one central testing agency running one uniform room the way a national licensure exam is. It is administered by individual nursing and allied health programs, each choosing its own delivery platform, subtest combination, passing score, and ID and calculator rules on top of what Elsevier publishes at the platform level. Elsevier’s own registration instructions repeatedly route students back to instructor emails, program supplied access codes, and program registration links rather than one national policy page, a strong signal that program instructions are the real authority here. Treat everything above as the floor Elsevier documents about how the Evolve and Secure Browser system works. Your program’s registration email and testing coordinator are the ceiling, and they govern what actually applies to your test day: which subtests, what score to pass, what ID to bring, and whether a calculator is on screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a photo ID for the HESI A2?
Elsevier’s distance testing guide requires a non-expired government-issued photo ID with signature whose first and last name match your Evolve registration; mismatched or expired ID means you are not admitted and forfeit the appointment and fees. Temporary IDs may be rejected. Programs can add their own rules.
Is a calculator provided for the HESI A2 Math section?
Elsevier’s faculty guide shows an on-screen calculator that each program can enable or disable, so ask your program whether it will be on.
Can I take the HESI A2 from home?
Many programs offer remote proctoring for the HESI A2, through ProProctor or, where a program still uses it, ProctorU. Whether your program offers this option, and what workspace or device rules it sets, depends on your program; not every program uses remote proctoring.
What happens if I exit the exam or run out of time?
Per Elsevier’s own student guides, exiting the exam or closing the Elsevier Secure Browser during a session may prevent you from re-entering without a proctor’s help, and if your allotted exam time runs out you receive a timeout message and are disconnected from the exam.
Want to walk into test day already comfortable with the format? Try a HESI A2 practice test, or start with a free HESI A2 practice test to preview the subtests before you build a full study plan. See what is on the HESI A2, or compare exams in TEAS vs HESI A2.
Sources
- Elsevier, HESI Product Page
- Elsevier, HESI A2 Student Guide for Taking the A2 on Your Own Device
- Elsevier, HESI A2 Student Guide for Taking the A2 at a School’s Testing Center
- Elsevier, HESI A2 and ALC Remote Proctoring Student Registration Instructions
- Elsevier, HESI A2 and ALC Student Registration Instructions
- elsevierresources.com, HESI NG A2 Distance Testing Student Guide (March 2026)
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For educational and exam preparation purposes only. Not a substitute for formal clinical training.
