New York Regents Examinations
In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students were required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credits in a number of specific subjects by passing year-long or half-year courses, after which they must pass at least five examinations. For higher-achieving students, a Regents with Advanced designation and an Honors designation are also offered. There are also local diploma options. Passing the exams will no longer be a condition of graduation beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
The Regents Examinations are developed and administered by the New York State Education Department under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. Regents exams are prepared by a conference of selected New York teachers of each test's specific discipline who assemble a test map that highlights the skills and knowledge required from the specific discipline's learning standards. The conferences meet and design the tests three years before the tests' issuance, which includes time for field testing and evaluating testing questions.
History of exams
The first Regents Examinations were administered in November 1866. In 1878, the Regents Examination system was expanded to assess the curricula taught in the secondary schools of New York, and the Regents exams were first administered as high school end-of-course exams. From the original five exams, the State Education Department expanded the Regents Exams offerings to forty-two tests in 1879; tests were administered in November, February, and June. In 1901, Regents Exams were given in rhetoric, civics, economics, Caesar, Virgil, Xenophon, and physiology.Throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s vocational education Regents Exams were approved and administered. These included but were not limited to, agricultural science, costume draping, and salesmanship. By 1970 the number and types of Regents Exams changed to reflect the changes in high school curriculum: vocational exams were discontinued, and the sheer number of exams were either dropped or consolidated as the curricular emphasis trended toward comprehensive examinations rather than the singularly focused tests of the past. This trend continued into the twenty-first century, with the cancellation of foreign language exams in 2010 and 2011.
In 1979, Regents Competency Tests were introduced for all students. In order to graduate, students had to pass the RCT OR the Regents exam. Later, they were offered only to students with disabilities. They were discontinued after the class of 2015. In 2000, New York State Alternative Assessments program was first administered allowing students with severe cognitive disabilities to complete a datafolio-style assessment to demonstrate their performance toward achieving the New York State learning standards.
The Latin, German, Greek, and Hebrew language exams were removed after the 2009–10 school year, and the remaining language exams were removed after the 2010–11 school year. Previously, a Regents foreign language exam was an option that would allow for Regents Exam with Advanced Designation. Currently, local school districts can develop their own exams to assess foreign language competency and allow for students to meet the Advanced Designation requirement.
The June 2020, August 2020, and January 2021, then later, August 2021 and January 2022 exams were not administered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Only four of the ten exams were administered in June 2021.
Active exams and composition
Most Regents exams consist of a single three-hour testing period. The exception is the Earth Science exam, which consists of a 41-minute laboratory component, known as the Earth Science lab practical, given around two weeks prior to the three-hour exam. The Regents exams are administered in January, June, and August.The Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics examinations are currently labeled as part of the "Physical Setting" of science. However, all of the exams will soon be renamed and modified in realignment to the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards. This rollout began with the Algebra I exam in June 2024, then Geometry, Earth and Space Sciences, and Life Science: Biology in June 2025, followed by Algebra II, Chemistry, Physics, and English Language Arts in June 2026.
| Exam | Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Citations |
| Algebra I | 24 multiple-choice questions | 6 open-ended questions | 4 open-ended questions | 1 open-ended question | |
| Algebra II | 24 multiple-choice questions | 8 open-ended questions | 4 open-ended questions | 1 open-ended question | |
| Chemistry | 30 multiple-choice questions | Mix of 35 multiple-choice and open-ended questions | 20 open-ended questions | ||
| Earth Science | 35 multiple-choice questions | 15 multiple-choice and 15 open-ended questions | 20 open-ended questions | ||
| English Language Arts | 24 multiple-choice questions | Source-based argument essay | Text-analysis response | ||
| Geometry | 24 multiple-choice questions | 7 open-ended questions | 3 open-ended questions | 1 open-ended question | |
| Global History and Geography II | 28 multiple-choice questions in chronological order from earliest to latest | 2 sets of constructive-response questions, 3 questions in each set | 1 essay question based on five documents. | ||
| Living Environment | 30 multiple-choice questions | Mix of 25 multiple-choice and open-ended questions | 17 open-ended questions | Mix of 13 multiple-choice and open-ended questions | |
| Physics | 35 multiple-choice questions | 15 multiple-choice and 15 open-ended questions | 20 open-ended questions | ||
| United States History and Government | 28 multiple-choice questions in chronological order from earliest to latest | 2 short-essay questions | 6 document-based questions and 1 essay question |
| Exam | Amount of Clusters | Amount of Questions | Citations |
| Life Science: Biology | 9-11 | Mix of 45-55 multiple-choice and open-ended questions | |
| Earth & Space Sciences | 9-11 | Mix of 45-55 multiple-choice and open-ended questions | |
| Chemistry | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Physics | Unknown | Unknown |
Interpreting scores
A score of 85-100 is considered a Level 5, a score of 76-84 is considered a Level 4, a score of 65-75 is considered a Level 3, a 55-64 is considered a Level 2, and below a 55 is considered a Level 1.Score appeals
Examination scores can be appealed to the local Superintendent or leader of the school district and regraded at a new location. A student can appeal no more than two of their scores.Changes
2000s
In 2005, the Board of Regents began modifying the mathematics curriculum. An integrated approach that taught topics in geometry and algebra during each of three years, with exams like “Math A” and “Math B” normally taken after a year and a half and again after three years, was replaced by a curriculum that divides topics into Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Each of these take the form of a one-year course with a Regents Examination at the end of the year.The format of the laboratory practical for Earth Science was changed in 2008. Currently, it consists of three sections, each with a time limit of nine minutes. While administering the test, there are multiple stations for each section. Each station uses different data, but the same task. For example, each section 1 station may have different rocks and minerals, though the task is the same.
2010s
In 2010, German, Latin, and Hebrew Regents foreign language exams were cancelled, and students studying those languages are now allowed to take a locally developed examination to demonstrate competency. On May 16, 2011, in the face of an $8 million budget gap, the remaining foreign language exams were eliminated, although districts may administer locally developed foreign language exams to let students attain a Regents Diploma with Advanced Designation.In addition, all tests administered during the month of January were to be canceled. In August 2011, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and five private donors contributed funds to ensure that the Regents was administered in January 2012.
Regent scores are invalid for students that need three or fewer points to pass and are from schools that are viewed as struggling; such students can move on to next course without a regent score.
Beginning in January 2011, the English Language Arts exam was reduced from a six-hour exam to a three-hour exam. The exam still contains essay components, but has greater emphasis on reading comprehension and less on writing.
Students graduating in 2012 were the first cohort of students required to take all five Regents Exams with a passing score of 65 and obtain a Regents Diploma to graduate. Previously, school districts had been permitted to offer a Local Diploma, with less stringent requirements than the Regents Diploma. Requirements have gradually been increased in recent years.
Test security procedures were heightened in response to the Stuyvesant High School cheating scandal. Effective August 2012, test proctors must collect and hold electronic devices for the duration of the exams; students are no longer permitted to have these devices on or near them. Previously, possession of electronic devices was allowed as long as they were not in use.
The Regents exams in English Language Arts and Algebra I were changed to incorporate the Common Core Standards starting in June 2014. In June 2015, the Regents Exam in Geometry was aligned with CCLS. Additionally, in June 2016, Algebra II was aligned with CCLS as well. High school students will be allowed to continue graduating with minimum scores of 65 on state exams until 2022. At that point, required scores would rise to 75 for the English Language Arts exam and 80 in algebra—levels deemed evidence of readiness for college.
In 2015, New York began administering computer-based standardized tests.
In August 2017, the Board of Regents approved changes to the Global History and Geography exam. Instead of a comprehensive examination that covers material from two years, the new exam will cover information taught only in the 10th grade. The new exam will also have a revised format: instead of 50 multiple choice questions, there will be only 30, but they will still be worth 55% of the grade. The thematic essay and document based question remain unchanged.