Exam Exemptions, Grades 9-12

Purpose of Exam Exemptions

Exam exemptions have long been a structure in the Wake County Public School System to a method of incentivizing strong student attendance and success in their courses.  Traditionally, the opportunity for exam exemptions was extremely rigid with only 1-3 absences permitted to earn an exam exemption.  Post-COVID realities include the acknowledgment that students do need to stay home when sick.  As a result, the number of absences was increased to 10 absences (as opposed to 1-3) in recent years.
 

Eligibility for Exam Exemptions

Exam exemptions have traditionally been limited to students in grade 12.  In 2025-26, Apex Friendship High will join many other high schools in the district to operate a pilot program that allows for exemptions in grades 9-12.  Criteria is different by grade level as outlined below.
 

Grade 12

Students are eligible for exam exemptions if they meet all of the following criteria:

• • A or B as projected final grade for the course
  • 10 or fewer absences (of any kind) for the course.

Students cannot be exempt from state exams, most CTE assessments, or other testing required by the state.  Exam exemptions do not apply to NCVPS or Wake Tech courses.
    

Grades 9-11

Students are eligible for exam exemptions if they meet all of the following criteria:

• • A or B as projected final grade for the course
  • 10 or fewer absences (of any kind) for the course.
  • 10 or fewer tardies in the course.

Students cannot be exempt from state exams, most CTE assessments, or other testing required by the state.  Exam exemptions do not apply to NCVPS or Wake Tech courses.
    

Below are some logistical details for exam exemptions to help ensure are understanding the criteria above in the same way.

• All absences count toward exam exemptions. This includes excused and unexcused absences.  Educational absences count toward exemptions.  
• School sponsored field trips will not create absences and therefore do not count toward exemptions.
• To align with our existing tardy policy, only unexcused tardies will count toward exam exemption consideration.
• Neither tardies or absences reset at the quarter.  These are counts for the entire semester.
• When counting tardies or absences, a student with 10 absences or tardies would meet that portion of the criteria.  A student who has 11 absences or tardies does not.
  
  

Frequently Asked Questions?

We will populate this section of the site with questions that we anticipate and/or common questions that we receive about exam exemptions.
  

Q:  Why do seniors have different criteria than other grade levels?

A:  The criteria for seniors had already been published prior to this pilot program.  The general thought was that it was not appropriate to change the criteria on seniors after we had already shared it with them.  This will be the case across the county.
  

Q:  If a student is exempt, can they take their exam to improve their grade?

A:  Yes.  If a student is exempt, they may opt to take their exam.  At that point, the exam will only be factored in if it helps the student have a higher grade in the course.  For students who do not met the exemption criteria, the exam can still increase or reduce their final grade.