Life Science: Biology Regents curve history — what a 65 cost at every sitting
Across 5 published Life Science: Biology administrations, the raw score needed for a 65 has run from 20 points (January 2026) to 21 points (June 2025) — 40.8% to 46.7% of the paper. Every figure below is read from the NYSED chart for that sitting, and each row links to the file it came from. Nothing here is smoothed, averaged, or carried forward to a sitting that has not happened.
The series
Two views of the same record
The first chart is what a student had to earn in raw points. The second is that same requirement as a share of the paper — which is the only view that survives a change in the size of the exam. Read them together, never one alone.
Life Science: Biology — raw points needed for a 65 and an 85
One point per published administration, June 2025 to August 2026. Where a sitting is missing from the record — cancelled, or simply never given a published chart — the line breaks rather than being joined across it.
Life Science: Biology — the same requirement as a share of the paper
Normalised by each session's raw total. This is the view that separates a change in difficulty from a change in the size of the exam — and the raw total did change here: 48 → 45 points at August 2025; 45 → 49 points at June 2026; 49 → 48 points at August 2026.
Session by session
Every published Life Science: Biology administration
Most recent first. The last column links to the NYSED file that each row was read from, so nothing here has to be taken on trust.
| Administration | Raw total | Raw for 65 | = % of paper | Raw for 85 | NYSED file |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 48 | 20 | 41.7% | 36 | PDF · XLSX |
| June 2026 | 49 | 20 | 40.8% | 35 | PDF · XLSX |
| January 2026 | 45 | 20 | 44.4% | 35 | PDF · XLSX |
| August 2025 | 45 | 21 | 46.7% | 34 | PDF · XLSX |
| June 2025 | 48 | 21 | 43.8% | 38 | PDF · XLSX |
What is deliberately absent from this table
June 2020, August 2020, January 2021, August 2021, January 2022 — cancelled administrations, so there is no row and no line segment across them; the curve above breaks there instead of stepping over. Administrations before June 2014 exist only as PDFs on the NYSED site and are not covered. And there is no row for a future sitting: NYSED publishes a chart after an administration is scored, never before.
Need to convert an actual score rather than read the series? The Life Science: Biology score calculator reads the full chart for any of these sittings, row by row.
Open data
Take the numbers
The table above is one exam's slice of a dataset covering 11 exams and 206 administrations. Free to use with attribution.
Questions
Life Science: Biology curve, answered
Has the Life Science: Biology Regents curve got harder?
Across the 5 published administrations, the raw points needed for a 65 have ranged from 20 (January 2026) to 21 (June 2025) — a spread of 1 points. As a share of the exam, that runs from 40.8% (June 2026) to 46.7% (August 2025). Part of that movement is not difficulty at all: the raw total changed from 48 to 45 points at August 2025, and the raw total changed from 45 to 49 points at June 2026, and the raw total changed from 49 to 48 points at August 2026. The percentage view is the one that survives that change. What none of this supports is a claim about the next sitting.
Can I work out the Life Science: Biology curve for the next exam from this?
No. NYSED publishes a conversion chart only after an administration has been scored, so no chart exists for a sitting that has not happened, and the movement in this series is not regular enough to stand in for one. This page is a record of what the exam has actually required. Treating it as a rule for a future sitting would put a number in a student’s head that nobody can stand behind — on a decision as consequential as a diploma credit.
Why are there gaps in the series?
Because those administrations never took place: June 2020, August 2020, January 2021, August 2021, January 2022 were cancelled around the pandemic. The lines on the charts break rather than jump the gap — the drawing code emits a new segment whenever two points are not consecutive sittings — because joining them would draw a data point that does not exist. The same break appears wherever NYSED has published no chart for a sitting, for any other reason. Where a special administration was held — a limited June 2021 sitting for a handful of exams — it is labelled rather than treated as an ordinary session.
How many Life Science: Biology administrations does this cover?
5, from June 2025 to August 2026. Sessions before June 2014 exist only as PDFs on the NYSED site and are not included, so this is not a claim to cover the whole history of the exam.
Can I reuse these numbers?
Yes. The whole dataset — this exam and every other one — is downloadable as CSV from the links on this page, and the figures are NYSED’s, reproduced as published. Each row in the table below links to the NYSED file it came from, so anything here can be checked against the source in one click.
Where these figures come from
All 5 figures come from the Life Science: Biology conversion charts published by the New York State Education Department (NYSED), Office of State Assessment, each linked in the table above. Conversion charts published by NYSED. Figures reproduced as published; consult the linked NYSED file for the authoritative version. Last verified September 2, 2026.
GeniusPrep is an independent tutoring company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the New York State Education Department.
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The curve is the one thing nobody controls.
The raw points are. Regents are given in January, June and August — start with a diagnostic: a past Life Science: Biology exam, marked against the real chart, and a written plan built from the gap.
Take the next step
Where does your child stand on Life Science: Biology?
Tell us the score they came out with and the sitting they're aiming for. We start with a diagnostic so the plan fits the gap, not the calendar.