How many raw points a 65 costs on the Algebra II Regents
In August 2026, a 65 on the Algebra II Regents cost 30 of 82 raw points — 36.6%. Over 26 administrations, 2016–2026: 4.3 points more of the paper than at the start of the record.
- 65 in August 2026
- 30/82
- 36.6% of the paper
- Hardest sitting
- 36.6%
- June 2026
- Most forgiving
- 29.1%
- June 2016
- Shift, first three to last three
- +4.3 pts
- of the paper, harder
The movement
Algebra II has been asking for more of the paper
The Algebra II line has walked upward. Averaged over the first three sittings on record the exam gave a 65 away for 30.2% of the paper; averaged over the last three it wants 34.5%. Peak: June 2026, 30/82 (36.6%). Trough: June 2016, 25/86 (29.1%) — 7.5 points apart. Identical raw marks in those two years would have produced two different verdicts. The peak is recent, so an older figure understates what is being asked now.
Read the raw column with the total beside it: Algebra II has been marked out of 86, then 82 raw points, changing at June 2026 (86 → 82). Quoting a raw figure across one of those breaks can reverse the direction of the finding, which is why this page works in shares.
Sat in January, June, August: 8 in January, 9 in June, 9 in August. In August 2026 the 65 line sat at 30 and the 85 line at 66: 36 marks apart, 43.9 points of the paper — the stretch an Advanced Regents average is won on. Sharpest single move: January 2026 to June 2026, 6.4 points in one step, against the student. 4 of the last 6 sat above the 30.2% median.
A smaller candidate field, and a paper that changed size
Algebra II is sat mostly by students on an advanced track rather than by a whole cohort, which is why its record starts two years later than Algebra I and carries fewer sittings. A narrower, stronger field does not make the chart kinder — the conversion is written from the marks actually earned on that sitting, not from a fixed proportion of passes. The change that matters most for anyone revising from past papers is the size of the exam itself: it moved from 86 marks to 82, so a raw target carried over from an older paper is being applied to a shorter one. Work to the share of the paper on this page, then convert it to marks on the sitting your child will actually take.
Algebra II also sits at an awkward point in a college timeline. It is frequently taken in the same year as the SAT or the ACT, by exactly the students who are trying to lift both, and the two kinds of preparation pull in different directions: the Regents rewards completing long multi-step problems to a written standard, the admissions tests reward speed across short ones. Families who plan the year as one block of maths revision usually discover this in April. Planning to the share of the paper on this page, and to a dated sitting, keeps the two separate.
One more thing the table below will show that a single year's figure hides: this exam has fewer January sittings than June ones, and fewer again than a student might assume from the calendar. A retake plan built around a winter window should be checked against the record rather than against the general rule that Regents run three times a year.
Algebra II Regents — what a 65 and an 85 cost, as a share of the paper
One point per published administration, June 2016 to August 2026, as a share of that sitting's raw total, which changed over the period. Cancelled administrations break the line rather than being joined across.
The same record in raw points
The paper moved from 86 to 82 raw points, so a drop in this line is not necessarily an easier exam.
Every sitting
The 26 Algebra II administrations on record
One row per published chart, newest first, with the NYSED file behind each one. Every published sitting carries a 65 line, so none has been dropped. June 2020, August 2020, January 2021, August 2021, January 2022 are absent because no exam was held.
| Administration | Raw total | Raw Score for 65 | Share of paper | Change | For an 85 | NYSED file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 82 | 30 | 36.6% | 0 pts | 66 (80.5%) | chart |
| June 2026hardest | 82total changed | 30 | 36.6% | +6.4 pts | 64 (78%) | chart |
| January 2026 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| August 2025 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | −2.3 pts | 65 (75.6%) | chart |
| June 2025 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | 0 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| January 2025 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | +1.2 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| August 2024 | 86 | 27 | 31.4% | +1.2 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| June 2024 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| January 2024 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 66 (76.7%) | chart |
| August 2023 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | −2.3 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| June 2023 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | 0 pts | 66 (76.7%) | chart |
| January 2023 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | 0 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| August 2022 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | 0 pts | 65 (75.6%) | chart |
| June 2022 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | 0 pts | 66 (76.7%) | chart |
| January 2020 | 86 | 28 | 32.6% | +2.3 pts | 67 (77.9%) | chart |
| August 2019 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 65 (75.6%) | chart |
| June 2019 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| January 2019 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 65 (75.6%) | chart |
| August 2018 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 65 (75.6%) | chart |
| June 2018 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| January 2018 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | +1.2 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| August 2017 | 86 | 25 | 29.1% | −1.2 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| June 2017 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | 0 pts | 62 (72.1%) | chart |
| January 2017 | 86 | 26 | 30.2% | −1.2 pts | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
| August 2016 | 86 | 27 | 31.4% | +2.3 pts | 63 (73.3%) | chart |
| June 2016most forgiving | 86 | 25 | 29.1% | — | 64 (74.4%) | chart |
Want the conversion table itself — every raw score against its scale score for Algebra II? That is a different question and it has its own page: the Algebra II score calculator converts a raw score you already have. This page answers the one you ask before the exam.
What to do with it
Setting a Algebra II target for the year ahead
Algebra II sits 8th of 9 by how much of the paper a 65 costs. Last year's figure would under-aim. Budget to the recent average, 34.5%, or about 29 of 82. That is a diploma floor, not a goal: 66 marks bought an 85 in August 2026 (80.5%), and that is the line a transcript is read on.
It is a band, not a forecast: across 26 sittings the 65 line on Algebra II has never left 29.1–36.6% of the paper, and aiming at the top of that band survives a hard year instead of being surprised by one.
Algebra II against the other exams
36.6% places Algebra II 8 of 9. Its immediate neighbours on that scale:
Where these figures come from
Derived from the 26 official Algebra II conversion charts published by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), Office of State Assessment, one spreadsheet per administration. Conversion charts published by NYSED. Figures reproduced as published; consult the linked NYSED file for the authoritative version. Nothing is interpolated or projected. Last verified September 7, 2026.
Take the next step
A band on a chart is not a study plan
Tell us where your child stands on Algebra II today and which sitting they are aiming at. We start with a diagnostic, so the work is built on the distance that actually has to be covered.