Test Optional: Regents Test No longer a Graduation Requirement Starting in 2028.

It’s a ritual all high school graduates in New York public schools know all too well. 

You get to high school and as part of your path to graduate, you have to endure a series of state tests called the Regents Exams. To graduate requires the passage of at least four of these standardized tests with an advanced regents diploma requiring the passage of at least seven standardized tests.  

But in the next two years, however, students will have the option not take part in that ritual. On Sept. 14, the Board of Regents voted to make the Regents Exams optional starting with the 2028 graduating class. 

The move is part of a broader effort to reform New York education which began in 2019. That year, a Blue-Ribbon Commission was launched to study the matter and come up with recommendations to better assess diploma requirements. The recommendations came out in 2023 and an effort to implement the recommendations, known as NY Inspires was initiated in 2024. The decision to drop the Regents as a requirement came from this effort. 

 “NY Inspires is fundamentally about strengthening teaching and learning and creating deeper, more meaningful educational experiences for every student,” Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, “By maintaining rigorous standards while giving students more opportunities to apply their knowledge, think critically, solve problems, and demonstrate what they know and can do, we are better preparing them for college, careers, civic life, and the future. These transformations will give educators greater opportunities to engage students in high-quality learning while providing a more complete picture of student growth and achievement.”

Under the new system, the three diplomas offered by the state — local, regents and advanced regents — will be merged into a single NYS high school diploma with seals and endorsements recognizing academic success.

While the regents will no longer be a requirement, they aren’t going away entirely. Students will have the option of taking the Regents exam in order to measure proficiency in specific subjects. Full details of how this will be implemented are expected to come in February 2027. 

 “Every student in New York deserves access to rich, high‑quality learning experiences and meaningful opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do,” Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. said, “Advancing this work moves us closer to a more equitable system, one that upholds high expectations for all while ensuring that a student’s zip code, background, or circumstance never determines their opportunities for success.”