Most public High Schools in New York State require students to pass several subject-specific standardized Regents exams throughout their high school career. The exams aim to assess student achievement and ensure students have met certain requirements before progressing from high school. Exams cover subjects ranging from humanities, to math, sciences and even foreign languages.
In order to earn a Regents diploma and graduate from high school, students must pass five Regents exams. These must include one exam in each of four subjects: English, mathematics, science, and social science. There are many options for a fifth test, including additional tests in the subjects above, a career and technical education course, arts assessment or foreign language.
Students may earn an Advanced Regents diploma if they pass additional exams in math and science, for a total of eight Regents exams. In addition, they must pass a career and technical education course, arts assessment or foreign language exam. Visit the Department of Education’s guidelines for more information.
Most students need to achieve a scaled score of 65 of higher to ‘pass’ the exam. However, there may some exceptions for students in special cases, and there is an appeals process
The Regents exams are offered three times per year, in January, June and August. Most students typically take the exams in June, with August and January used as opportunities to retake tests. Note: not every exam is offered all 3 times per year, although every exam is offered in June. Students may repeat exams as often as they like.Visit regents schedule for more information.
The exams contain multiple choice and free response questions, and are typically 3 hours long. The exams are designed by the Regents board to assess annual achievement and learned knowledge in the corresponding high school course.
The Regents have changed recently to reflect new Common Core standards. Current students, who have received instruction in subjects before the implementation of Common Core standards, have the choice of which test to take – a Common Core aligned Regents exam or one aligned to the previous standards.
The raw score, the number of correct answers, is converted to a scale score from 1-100. The scale conversion is available on the Regents website.
The scale for the Regents is quite ‘favorable;’ for some exams getting about 30% of questions correct is enough to reach the 65 passing score. At Next Level, we can help students learn to navigate the test and target the ‘getable’ questions, increasing their chances of reaching that special ‘65.’
The exams are scored by schools are results are available as soon as a school has scored them. Parents can contact schools to receive their student’s scores.
Students can receive different diplomas depending on the number of regents they pass and their scores. In addition to the Regents Diploma and Advanced Regents Diploma mentioned above, students may qualify for honors designation by achieving an average score of 90 over all their Regents exams.
There are several other designations for achievement in specific subject areas, including Mastery in Science and Mastery in Math for scores of 85 or more in all respective exams. Students should speak to their school for more information.
A Local Diploma is available for students who fall slightly short of the requirements for the Regents Diploma (through the Appeals process) or for students who have IEPs.
Students may opt to take other tests, such as APs, in place of regents. To see which tests are approved substitutes click here.
Although Regents are sometimes thought of as pass/fail exams (with a 65 scale or higher designating a ‘pass’), schools typically show the scaled score on the transcript. If you are unsure, contact your school for more details.
First, to graduate from high school! Second, college admissions around the nation understand the New York Regents process and will consider the results as part of their admissions criteria and higher scores will make a student’s application stronger. In addition, many colleges use Regents exam scores to exempt students from placement exams.
Next level Learning is known for having the best Regents tutoring in New York. Our highly-trained, expert Regents instructors know the material well and teach targeted content so students can develop a clear strategy to achieve their greatest potential. Our instructors focus on time management, effective ways to reduce anxiety, and various test taking techniques that enable students to earn maximum credit. Please contact Next Level Learning to discuss how our professional Regents instructors can help your child get Regents scores that reflect their best effort.