How most exams are set up
Most AP exams last 2 to 3 hours and have two sections, with a short break between them:
- Multiple choice comes first. Each question has 4 or 5 answer choices.
- Free response comes second. You write your own answers: an essay, a short answer, or a worked solution to a problem, depending on the subject.
Some exams split a section into parts, like Part A and Part B, often because a calculator is allowed in one part and not the other. World language exams are set up differently from 2027 and start with the free response section.
Testing in Bluebook
There are two kinds of digital AP exam:
- Fully digital: you answer everything in Bluebook, and your answers are sent in automatically when time is up.
- Hybrid digital: you answer the multiple choice in Bluebook and read the free response questions there, but you handwrite your free response answers in a paper booklet.
In 2027 these exams are hybrid digital: Biology, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Music Theory, Physics 1: Algebra-Based, Physics 2: Algebra-Based, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C: Mechanics, Precalculus. Every other exam with an end-of-year test is fully digital.
Your device
Bluebook runs on Windows and Mac computers, iPads, and school-managed Chromebooks. Your school may give you a device. If you're using your own, download Bluebook and set it up ahead of time, and make sure it's fully charged on exam day.
On exam day
- You sign in to Bluebook with your College Board account. A password saved on your device won't work, so know it by heart.
- Your proctor gives you a start code, and the exam begins.
- A timer shows how long is left in each section or part. You can hide it until the last 5 minutes.
- Within a section or part, you can move back and forth between questions until time runs out. Mark questions to come back to, cross out answer choices you've ruled out, and highlight or make notes.
- Bluebook saves your answers on your device as you go, and sends them in at the end.
Bluebook has a free test preview for most AP subjects, so you can try the tools before exam day, with more subjects added in early 2027. Ask your teacher about practice in AP Classroom too.
Multiple choice
Multiple choice questions often come in small sets about the same thing: a passage, a picture, a map, a graph, a diagram, or the results of an experiment. You might be asked to explain what it shows, apply an idea from the course, or do a quick calculation.
Your score is the number of questions you get right. Wrong answers don't cost you anything, so answer every question.
- Read the question before the source, so you know what to look for.
- Cross out the answers you know are wrong, then pick the best of what's left.
- Don't get stuck: mark a hard question, move on, and come back if you have time.
Free response
Free response looks different in each subject:
- History: short answer questions, a document-based question (an essay built around seven sources) and a long essay.
- Government: questions that ask you to apply ideas, read data, compare Supreme Court cases, and write an argument essay.
- Science: multi-part questions about experiments and data, where you explain, predict, calculate and sometimes graph.
- Math: multi-part problems where you show your work and explain your reasoning.
- Psychology: one question about a research article and one where you build an argument from evidence.
Teachers and professors score these answers against a set rubric, so answer exactly what each part asks. You can see real past questions with scoring guidelines and sample answers on each course's exam page on College Board's site.
Calculators
Calculators are allowed only on the exams below. On these, Bluebook has a built-in Desmos calculator, and you can also bring up to two approved handheld calculators. On Calculus and Precalculus, the built-in calculator only appears in the parts where a calculator is required.
| Exam | Calculator | When |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | Four-function (with square root) or scientific. No graphing calculators. | Whole exam |
| Business with Personal Finance | Four-function only | Whole exam |
| Calculus AB and BC | Graphing | Required on part of each section; not allowed on the rest |
| Chemistry | Scientific or graphing (four-function is allowed but not recommended) | Whole exam |
| Environmental Science | Four-function (with square root) or scientific. No graphing calculators. | Whole exam |
| Macroeconomics and Microeconomics | Four-function only | Whole exam |
| Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics C | Four-function, scientific or graphing | Whole exam |
| Precalculus | Graphing | Required on part of each section; not allowed on the rest |
| Statistics | Graphing, with statistics functions | Expected on the whole exam |
No other exam allows a calculator, unless you have an approved accommodation. Only some models are approved, and the proctor checks them before the exam, so check the calculator policy and practice with the one you'll use.
What to bring
- Your fully charged device with Bluebook installed, if your school isn't giving you one, and its charger.
- Pencils or pens. For hybrid exams, bring two No. 2 pencils with erasers or pens with black or dark blue ink for the free response booklet.
- Approved calculators, for exams that allow them.
- A watch, as long as it isn't a smartwatch and doesn't beep.
- A photo ID, if you're testing at a school that isn't yours.
Leave your phone and any other devices, notes, books and food out of the exam room; scratch paper is provided. College Board has the full list. If you need accommodations, like extra time, talk to your school early: College Board explains how.
Each course's exam at a glance
Here's the 2027 exam for each course on this site. For every detail, follow the link to the course's official exam page. All dates are in the 2027 exam calendar.
AP® World History: Modern exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 3 hours 15 minutes
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 55 questions, 55 minutes, 40% of your scoreSets of questions about the same source.
- Short answer
- 3 questions, 40 minutes, 20% of your score
- Essays
- A document-based question and a long essay, 1 hour 40 minutes, 40% of your score
- Calculator
- No calculator.
AP® United States History exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 3 hours 15 minutes
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 55 questions, 55 minutes, 40% of your scoreSets of questions about the same source.
- Short answer
- 3 questions, 40 minutes, 20% of your score
- Essays
- A document-based question and a long essay, 1 hour 40 minutes, 40% of your score
- Calculator
- No calculator.
AP® European History exam
- Date
- , session 2 (usually afternoon)
- Length
- 3 hours 15 minutes
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 55 questions, 40% of your scoreSets of questions about the same source.
- Short answer
- 3 questions, 20% of your score
- Essays
- A document-based question and a long essay, 40% of your score
- Calculator
- No calculator.
AP® United States Government and Politics exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 3 hours
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 55 questions, 1 hour 20 minutes, 50% of your score
- Free response
- 4 questions, 1 hour 40 minutes, 50% of your scoreApplying concepts, reading data, comparing Supreme Court cases, and an argument essay.
- Calculator
- No calculator.
AP® Biology exam
- Date
- , session 2 (usually afternoon)
- Length
- 3 hours
- How you take it
- Hybrid digital: multiple choice in Bluebook, free response handwritten in a booklet
- Multiple choice
- 60 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 50% of your score
- Free response
- 6 questions (2 long, 4 short), 1 hour 30 minutes, 50% of your score
- Calculator
- A four-function (with square root) or scientific calculator. Graphing calculators aren't allowed in 2027. Bluebook has a built-in scientific calculator.
AP® Chemistry exam
- Date
- , session 2 (usually afternoon)
- Length
- 3 hours 15 minutes
- How you take it
- Hybrid digital: multiple choice in Bluebook, free response handwritten in a booklet
- Multiple choice
- 60 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 50% of your score
- Free response
- 7 questions (3 long, 4 short), 1 hour 45 minutes, 50% of your score
- Calculator
- A scientific or graphing calculator, on both sections. Bluebook has both built in.
AP® Environmental Science exam
- Date
- , session 2 (usually afternoon)
- Length
- 2 hours 40 minutes
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 80 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 60% of your score
- Free response
- 3 questions, 1 hour 10 minutes, 40% of your scoreDesign an investigation, analyze data, and solve a problem with calculations.
- Calculator
- A four-function (with square root) or scientific calculator. Graphing calculators aren't allowed in 2027. Bluebook has a built-in scientific calculator.
AP® Psychology exam
- Date
- , session 2 (usually afternoon)
- Length
- 2 hours 40 minutes
- How you take it
- Fully digital: every answer in Bluebook
- Multiple choice
- 75 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 67% of your score
- Free response
- 2 questions, 1 hour 10 minutes, 33% of your scoreAn Article Analysis Question and an Evidence-Based Question.
- Calculator
- No calculator.
AP® Precalculus exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 2 hours 55 minutes
- How you take it
- Hybrid digital: multiple choice in Bluebook, free response handwritten in a booklet
- Multiple choice
- 42 questions, 1 hour 45 minutes, about 63% of your scorePart A: 29 questions, no calculator. Part B: 13 questions, graphing calculator needed for some.
- Free response
- 4 questions, 1 hour 10 minutes, about 37% of your scorePart A: 2 questions with a graphing calculator. Part B: 2 questions without one.
- Calculator
- A graphing calculator is required for some parts and not allowed in others. Bluebook has one built in for the parts that need it.
AP® Calculus AB exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 3 hours 10 minutes
- How you take it
- Hybrid digital: multiple choice in Bluebook, free response handwritten in a booklet
- Multiple choice
- 42 questions, 1 hour 40 minutes, 50% of your scorePart A: 29 questions, no calculator. Part B: 13 questions, graphing calculator needed for some.
- Free response
- 6 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 50% of your scorePart A: 2 questions with a graphing calculator. Part B: 4 questions without one.
- Calculator
- A graphing calculator is required for some parts and not allowed in others. Bluebook has one built in for the parts that need it.
AP® Calculus BC exam
- Date
- , session 1 (usually morning)
- Length
- 3 hours 10 minutes
- How you take it
- Hybrid digital: multiple choice in Bluebook, free response handwritten in a booklet
- Multiple choice
- 42 questions, 1 hour 40 minutes, 50% of your scorePart A: 29 questions, no calculator. Part B: 13 questions, graphing calculator needed for some.
- Free response
- 6 questions, 1 hour 30 minutes, 50% of your scorePart A: 2 questions with a graphing calculator. Part B: 4 questions without one.
- Calculator
- A graphing calculator is required for some parts and not allowed in others. Bluebook has one built in for the parts that need it.