Ordering Answer Sheets
A school must order answer sheets if any of its students will be taking any of the offered Regents Exams. If your students will be taking exams in host schools that will not use your school's answer sheets, please make sure you and the host schools have reached an agreement as to which school will be responsible for which part of the process and that you will be informed by those schools of your students' scores which will not be reported into your Level 2 reports.
Required Item 1 - Contract:
- You will receive a personalized link to the January 2026 Contract in an email sent after November 4, 2025. If you have not received it, please email Shelley Hill and request the Contract.
- In your request, please include the name of your school, BEDS Code, your name, and your job title.
- The deadline to submit the contract is Friday, December 5, 2025.
Required Item 2 - Pre-Print File:
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Click here to view/download and print the State Course Code Chart (January codes are the same as the ones from June).
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Click here to download the January 2026 pre-print file.
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Complete the template and save it as a regular Excel file (.xls or .xlsx). Please add your school name to the title
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Save the file again in the .csv format.
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E-mail the .csv file to Shelley Hill.
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The deadline to submit the pre-print file is Friday, December 12, 2025.
Fees
Overall Service Fee for Scanning Only - $ 8.00 per answer sheet
NEW Overall Service Fee for Scoring & Scanning - $ 24.00 per answer sheet
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Invoices are based on the totals submitted in the pre-print file (not the contract) and will be e-mailed to the school after its pre-print file has been processed.
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The deadline to submit payment is Friday, January 2, 2026.
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After BOCES has printed an answer sheet, the fee is due whether or not the sheet is used or the order is cancelled.
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Schools will be invoiced $ 8.00 or $ 24 for each additional answer sheet scanned above the total number of answer sheets ordered.
Data Warehouse Fee - $ 3.00 per student
- This fee applies to each student who had Demographic/Enrollment Records in Level 0 after January 31st but who did not take any of the 2026 Regents exams.
- This would include students who were entered in anticipation of: taking an exam but didn't in the end; requiring an Assessment Record; or requiring graduation data.
- Schools may not receive an invoice for this fee until late Summer/early Fall.
Late Fee - an additional $ 10.00 per answer sheet ordered after the deadline has passed
Participating School Responsibilities Include
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Full payment of all fees (overall, data warehouse, quality control, and/or late).
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Maintaining student data in Level 0.
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Click here to view/download a document on maintaining Level 0 data.
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Each Fall, The Jewish Education Project Day School Team will work with each school on promoting the schools’ previous year’s students by requesting verification of which students to promote as well as adding new students into the current Level 0 account.
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Level 0 must be properly locked with the files created for Level 1 to ensure that the data is uploaded and processed. That step is done by clicking the green button "To Create Files for Level 1."
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Deadlines:
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Friday, January 30, 2026 - the last date to remove any students from Level 0 who will not take any 2026 NYS Exam and will not need high school graduation data entered.
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Friday, July 24, 2026 - the last date to enter Demographic and Enrollment Records for any new students not already in Level 0 who will take a 2026 Regents exam or need high school graduation data entered. These records must be properly locked and processed (by clicking the green button to create the files for Level 1).
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Noon, Thursday, August 20, 2026 - All Level 0 records (ex. Demographic/Enrollment Records with graduation data or Assessment Records) must be properly locked and uploaded to Level 1 (by clicking the green button to Create the Files for Level 1) in order to meet the cutoff for Level 0 closing on August 21, 2026.
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Submitting pre-print files of students requiring answer sheets.
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Scoring the answer sheets by selecting one of two options in your Contract:
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Scanning Only - means that you will score the answer sheets in school prior to submitting the sheets for scanning:
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Each school must log into the Online Exam Ordering System in the NYSED Portal to view the list of exams the school ordered.
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The passwords for each exam will be listed next to the name of that exam. The password should be selected and copied.
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The school must then go to the NYSED's Office of State Assessment's Scoring Information page and click on the link for the correct Regents administration.
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Each exam will be linked to the scoring key. Paste the copied password to open the appropriate scoring key.
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Scoring and Scanning - means that our partner, Optimum Solutions Corp. (OSC), will score your answer sheets for you before scanning the sheets for you. Selecting this option may mean a delay in notifying your students of their scores as the scores would not be available until after the sheets have been scanned.
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Performing quality control on the scored answer sheets if Scanning Only was selected as the option. Sheets reported with errors due to quality control errors will not be re-scanned and schools will need to enter Assessment Records in Level 0 for each of the sheets.
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Submitting the scored answer sheets for scanning.
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Entering graduation data in Level 0 for high school students who have earned their Regents diplomas.
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Reviewing ASAP and Level 2 reports for accuracy.
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Submitting the End Of Year Certification form in which schools are asked to verify that certain Level 2 reports are either: accurate, not accurate, or not required for their school.
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The deadline to submit the form is Friday, September 4, 2026.
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The online fillable form can be found in the IRS Data Exchange (IDEx) which is accessed through your NYSED Portal account.
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The same form can also be download and emailed back to the State going to the NYSED IRS Verification and Certification website and scrolling down to the section for Participating Religious/Independent Schools. The directions for how to email it back to the State are listed in the same section.
Deadlines
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Friday, January 30, 2026 - the last date to remove any students from Level 0 who will not take any 2026 NYS Exam and will not need high school graduation data entered.
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Friday, July 24, 2026 - the last date to properly enter and upload the Demographic and Enrollment Records for any new students not already in Level 0 who will take a 2026 Regents exam or need high school graduation data entered.
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Noon, Thursday, August 20, 2026 - the last date to make sure Level 0 has no errors and that all high school graduation data and Assessment Records have been properly entered and uploaded to meet the cutoff for Level 0 closing on August 21, 2026.
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Friday, September 4, 2026 - the last date to submit the End of Year Certification form in which you are verifying the accuracy of the Level 2 reports.
Basics
The NYSED stopped providing answer sheets with the NYS test booklets in 2011. To receive answer sheets and access to the Student Information Repository System (SIRS), schools must partner with a Regional Information Center (RIC).
Data
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SIRS / Level 0 – the warehouse/database where all student data is maintained. For the Regents Exams, schools will create 1 Demographic Record and 1 Enrollment Record for each student who is to take a Regents Exam.
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Level 1 – where the processed data from Level 0 is stored (schools do not have access).
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Level 2 – where all processed Level 1 data is stored and is what NYS Mandated Services will access for reimbursing schools’ claims. In Level 2, schools can access their:
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Regents Score Reports
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Graduation Reports
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In June 2016, NYSED stopped requiring schools to submit paper graduation reports for 12th graders. Instead, schools must change specific fields in each graduating student’s Level 0 Demographic and Enrollment Record which will then be processed into the Level 2 report.
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Level 0 Historical - the archive of Level 0 records where schools may enter graduation data or Assessment Records for students who were not in a Level 2 report and are no longer in the school.
Test Booklets
Test booklets for all Regents Exams must be ordered via the NYSED Portal's Online Exam Request System. Schools are notified directly from NYSED in a memo which is also posted on its website when the ordering period begins and ends. Login data is assigned by the State Education Department Delegated Account System (SEDDAS).
Only registered high schools are able to order and administer Regents exams. Non-registered high schools should arrange with a registered host school to order and administer the exams. Schools unsure of their registration status should contact the Office of Religious and Independent School Support (ORISS).
If you are ordering your answer sheets through us, when placing the test booklet order, please select:
If you have trouble accessing the Portal, please contact SEDDAS.
Answer sheets
Guidelines for ordering sheets can be found in the above section - Ordering Answer Sheets. In general, the notification for ordering answer sheets is e-mailed to schools in:
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Early-November – for January Regents Exams administration (deadline in December)
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Late-February – for June Regents Exams administration (deadline in April)
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Late-June – for August Regents Exams administration (deadline in July).
Resources
BOCES Website - From the Secure menu, each of the following can be selected:
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NYSED Portal (for ordering exam booklets and accessing passwords for Regents scoring keys)
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Login Data provided by NYSED – if forgotten, try the "Reset Your Password" link or contact the SEDDAS Help Desk (please include the school name, BEDS number, and the user name you're trying to use).
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Level 0 (for entering student data)
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Level 0 Historical (for entering data to records of students no longer enrolled in the school)
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NYSSIS (for resolving student identification issues related to Level 0 ID)
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L2RPT (for accessing Level 2 reports)
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ASAP (for accessing Regents scores after scanning prior to processing into Level 2)
NYSED Office of State Assessment Website – Memos related to all aspects of the administration of Regents Exams can be found on the site, including:
NYSED Office of Religious and Independent School Support - Information about high school registration can be found on the site in the section, "School Operations Resources."
NYSED Office of Curriculum & Instruction Diploma Requirements Website – Information about high school diploma requirements and diploma types can be found on the site.
NYSED Office of Information and Reporting Services (IRS) Verification and Certification Website - Information about completing the End of Year Certification form can be found on the site, including a checklist of which Level 2 reports need to be verified.
NYSED IRS Level 2 Website - Information about Level 2 can be found here, including links to memos explaining the purpose of each Level 2 report.
If you have questions about the Regents process, please contact Shelley Hill, Project Manager.
