At its February 2025 meeting, the New York State Board of Regents adopted new regulations to establish a waiver process for the content knowledge (CST and BEA) certification examination requirements. Teacher candidates who failed by a narrow margin can now pass this certification requirement with a 3.5 or better GPA. If you have taken and failed one or more parts of the content exams, please review the below carefully:
Waiver Eligibility:
- Score within 0.5 standard error of measurement (SEM) of the passing score on a required Content Specialty Test (CST), including the Bilingual Education Assessment (BEA)
- Possess at least a 3.5 undergraduate GPA or graduate degree at an accredited institution like CUNY
If you are eligible, complete these next steps:
- Ensure you have a valid application for certification on file. To do this, log into your TEACH account, select Account Information and then select Applications. If that section is empty, you must apply for the certification that the waiver will be applied to.
- Check the score on your score report against the scores on the chart to determine if you are within 0.5 SEM. If you have taken a particular exam multiple times, you can check each of the scores against the chart.
- Check your Bachelor's and/or Master's degree transcripts to determine if your overall GPA is 3.5 or higher. Note: The submitted transcript must show the conferral of a Bachelor's or Master's to be eligible for this waiver. Incomplete degree programs will not be considered for eligibility.
- If you find you have a 3.5 or higher GPA for either the Bachelor's or Master's degree, check your TEACH account under Correspondence to see that your most up to date transcripts are on file. If the transcripts on file are more than 5 years old, please request new official copies be sent.
- Note: If you earned your previous certificates through a college recommendation, the Office of Teaching does not receive copies of your transcripts. Please contact your college/university's Registrar's Office to request official transcripts be sent to the Office of Teaching. Please see NYSED’s website for more information regarding transcripts: Submitting College Transcripts
- Once you have determined your score falls within the score range AND your GPA satisfies the waiver requirement, please complete and submit the Request for NYSTCE Exam Score Waiver form.
- Once you have submitted your form, please monitor your TEACH account for any changes. Once your request has been evaluated, one of two things will happen:
- The certificate in question will be issued, or
- You will receive a Notice of Uncompleted Requirements both to your email on file and to the Correspondence section of your TEACH account that indicates the deficiencies and how to resolve them.
Notes:
- You must have taken an exam on the list and failed by a score within 0.5 SEM. Waivers are not available for exams you have not yet taken and failed.
- You may apply for a waiver for more than one exam if you meet the waiver eligibility criteria for each failed exam.
For answers to commonly asked questions regarding exam waivers, please review this FAQ page.