AP Exams

Created by the College Board, the AP Exams are 2-3 hours long and are designed to test students’ mastery of content and skill sets. Most exams consist of both multiple-choice and free-response questions.  Some AP Exams require students to complete performance tasks, either in place of or in addition to multiple-choice and free-response questions. These include AP Computer Science Principles, AP Research, AP Seminar, and AP Art & Design.

The AP Exams are designed to align with the AP Course framework, content, and conformity of questions that students learn throughout the year.  The College Board consults with AP Course teachers across the country to design and grade each exam, and they revisit exam design on an annual basis.

Test Dates

The 2025 AP Exams were administered in schools over two weeks in May: May 5–9 and May 12–16. AP scores are released in July. The 2026 AP Exam schedule has not been announced yet. The College Board typically announces the following year’s AP Exam schedule in early to mid-July.

Test Format

The AP Exams are 2-3 hours long and are designed to test students’ mastery of content and skill sets. Most exams consist of both multiple-choice and free-response questions.  Some AP Exams require students to complete performance tasks, either in place of or in addition to multiple-choice and free-response questions. These include AP Computer Science Principles, AP Research, AP Seminar, and AP Art & Design.

Starting in May 2025, 28 AP Exams will be administered digitally via the College Board’s Bluebook App. Of the 28 exams transitioning to digital in 2025, 16 will be fully digital, and 12 will be in a hybrid format, where students will take the multiple-choice section digitally, but handwrite free-response questions (like essays or math problems) in paper booklets. 

For more information and for a full list of which exams will be switching to a digital format, please visit the College Board’s website here.

Scoring

The multiple-choice sections of the AP Exams are scored digitally. For the free-response questions and performance tasks, the College Board consults with experienced AP teachers and college professors to score each exam. A rubric is developed for each question. The score cutoffs of each rubric take into account a number of factors, including: previous years’ scoring percentiles, the difficulty level of the multiple-choice questions and other free-response questions, the overall quality of answers in the entire pool of test-takers, and how college students fare on the exam.  AP scores are released in July.

AP Exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score possible. The College Board defines the scores as follows:

AP Exam scores are released in July.

Colleges and universities often use high scores for course credit, and/or as a method of placement in order to exempt students from lower-level prerequisites. Additionally, AP scores play a significant role in the college admissions process.

Score Distribution

The score distributions vary from test to test. See the table below for more detailed scoring information.

Test Registration

The College Board’s deadline to register for AP Exams is November 15. However, the College Board allows students to register between November 16 – March 15 as long as they pay an additional $40 late fee.

Students register for the AP Exams through their school. If students have any questions, they should contact their school’s AP coordinator.

If students are not taking the AP Exams through their school, they can still register!  This might be the case if: 

• A student would like to take an AP Exam that is not offered at the student’s school
• A student’s school does not offer AP courses
• A student is home-schooled
• A student is taking an AP Exam without having taken the corresponding course

Please note that schools often have their own deadlines and policies for receiving requests from outside students. It’s best to contact them as soon as possible!

For more information, please click here to visit the College Board website.

AP Classroom provides free online resources to students for each AP course. Access to the AP Classroom is given by a student’s AP teacher or school AP coordinator. Students who are not enrolled in an AP course at their school can still gain access to these resources. Click here for more information.

Accommodations

Students who have been approved for College Board accommodations for the PSAT and SAT will receive the same accommodations for AP Exams.

Students should contact their school directly to confirm that they have been approved for accommodations on the AP Exams. For more information, click here.

Looking Ahead

The College Board has announced that three new AP courses will be introduced for the 2026-27 school year: AP Business Principles/Personal Finance, AP Cyber: Networking, and AP Cyber: Security.