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All about Regents

Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects required for a Regents Diploma. Most students are required to pass the Regents Examinations. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credits in a number of specific subjects, after which they must take and pass Regents Examinations.

The following Regents Exams are administered in New York State:

Social Studies

Global History and Geography

United States History and Government

English Language Arts: Comprehensive English

Mathematics

Integrated Algebra

Geometry

Algebra 2 and Trigonometry

Science

Earth Science/The Physical Setting

Biology/The Living Environment

Chemistry/The Physical Setting

Physics/The Physical Setting

Regents Diploma exam requirements

To graduate with a Regents Diploma, students must pass on five Regents exams:

Global History and Geography;

U.S. History and Government;

Comprehensive English;

Any one math exam (usually Integrated Algebra);

Any one science exam (usually Earth Science or Living Environment/Biology).

Regents Test Format

Most Regents exams are three hours long and structured in the following format:

i. A multiple-choice section (Part I) of usually between 30 to 50 questions

ii. A long-answer/essay section (Part II) consisting of either a selection of detailed questions for which the work must be shown (for math and physical sciences), or a set of essay topics, of which one or two must be written about in detail (for the social sciences)

The exception is the Earth Science exam, which consists of a 41-minute (approximate) laboratory component usually given up to two weeks prior to the three-hour written exam.