FAQS for AP Exam Updates
Q: When and where will 2020 AP exams be given?
A: Online exams will be given from May 11-22nd. Makeup test dates will be available for each subject from June 1–5. Each subject's exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide. All students will receive the access code for the primary testing window of May 11-22nd. If a student does not take the exam, then they will receive the code for the make-up window. If something goes wrong with technology during the primary window, the student can try again during the makeup window. If something goes wrong during the makeup window, there is no makeup.
Q: What is the official exam schedule?
A: Open the link below to view the testing schedule.
https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-theexams/ap-exam-schedule
Q: What will the exam format be?
A: Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately. Students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question. Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. They'll be able to type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo via their cell phones
Q: How long will the exams take?
A: For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, plus an additional 5 minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up.
Q: How will the exams be administered for specialty courses?
A: Certain courses—Art and Design: 2D; Art and Design: 3D; Computer Science Principles; Drawing; Research; and Seminar—will use portfolio submissions and will not have a separate online exam. All deadlines for these submissions have been extended to May 26, 2020, 11:59 p.m. ET. Teachers and students may receive separate course-specific communications. Students taking world language and culture exams will complete two spoken tasks consistent with free-response questions 3 and 4 on the current AP Exam. Written responses will not be required. We'll provide additional details in the coming weeks to help students prepare.
Q: How will the changes impact exam scores and college credit?
A: As usual, students' work will be scored by our network of college faculty and AP teachers, and will be reported on a 1–5 scale. College Board anticipates releasing scores as close to the usual July time-frame as possible. They’re confident that the vast majority of higher ed institutions will award college credit as they have in the past. They’ve spoken with hundreds of institutions across the country that support their solution for this year's AP Exams.
Q: How will the College Board ensure exam security?
A: Like many college-level exams, this year's AP Exams will be open book/open note. The exam format and questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration, so points will not be earned from content that can be found in textbooks or online. However, students taking the exams may not consult with any other individuals during the testing period. College Board will take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of each exam administration, as they do every year. They’re confident that the vast majority of AP students will follow the rules for taking the exams. For the small number of students who may try to gain an unfair advantage, they have a comprehensive and strict set of protocols in place to prevent and detect cheating. At a minimum, test takers should understand that those attempting to gain an unfair advantage will either be blocked from testing or their AP scores will be canceled, and their high school will be notified as will colleges or other organizations to which the student has already sent any College Board scores (including SAT® scores). And they may be prohibited from taking a future Advanced Placement® Exam as well as the SAT, SAT Subject Tests™, or CLEP® assessments.
Q: How will remote instruction and practice take place?
A: On March 25, College Board began offering free live AP review courses, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. The courses have been viewed more than 3.2 million times since they became available. On-demand lessons are now available for Art and Design and Computer Science Principles. In addition to sharing information about these classes with students, teachers who are providing remote instruction can use AP Classroom for most subjects. College Board has now unlocked secure free-response questions in AP Classroom so teachers can digitally assign relevant practice questions students can take at home. Additional tips for helping your students practice are available.
Online AP Classes
Q: When do online AP classes begin?
A: Wednesday, March 25, 2020. A schedule of classes, including descriptions of each lesson is available at collegeboard.org/ap-covid19-updates. All classes are available for free and are completely optional.
Q: Where can students access the classes?
A: Students can find the classes at youtube.com/advancedplacement.
Q: What if a student can’t attend a particular class?
A: The classes will also be available on-demand at youtube.com/advancedplacement so teachers and students can access them any time. But remember these classes are optional, not required. They will begin finishing up the AP course so students have the knowledge for the subsequent coursework in college and loop back to review the entire course.
Q: Will all AP subjects have online classes?
A: All subjects will have live online classes except for 2-D Art & Design, 3-D Art &Design, Drawing, Seminar, and Research. These courses will instead receive on-demand lessons that will cover the tasks required for the course. These will be available by early April. Computer Science Principles students will receive support from endorsed providers.
Q: Can students attend these classes, even if they are not taking the AP Exam?
A: Yes.
Q: Can home-schooled, virtual school, independent-study, and self-study students attend these classes?
A: Yes.
At Home Testing
Q: What kind of exam will students receive?
A: Students will receive a 45-minute online free-response exam (exact timing to be
announced). There will be no multiple-choice questions. Students will complete the exam at home, online, on a specified day and time. To minimize conflicts, students will be able to choose from two different test dates, one earlier or one later. Like a college exam, these exams will be open book/”open note.” They won’t test simple factual recall; instead they’ll be focused on skills and thematic understandings. Students will not be tested on content typically taught in the last 25% of an AP course, as laid out in the unit structure shown in the AP Course and Exam Description. Visit collegeboard.org/ap-covid19-updates for a list of which units will be included in each AP Exam this year. Each student response will be monitored by plagiarism detection software, and students whose responses mirror content from the web or other students’ submissions will be disqualified. Student responses will be submitted digitally and scored by remote readers. This is a similar process to the one we have used for years in scoring AP at-home work for college credit in courses like AP Seminar, AP Research, and AP Computer Science Principles. By April 3, we’ll publish the full exam schedule including the specific free-response question types that will comprise each AP exam.
Q: None of my students have access to a computer and/or the internet at home. How
can they test?
A: Students can test on a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Some schools have indicated that they are willing to loan laptops for students who do not have home computers. We recognize that the digital divide could prevent some low-income and/or rural students from participating. Working with partners, we'll invest so these students will have the tools and connectivity they need to review AP content online and take the exam.
Q: How will you prevent students from cheating?
A: The exams will be designed to measure skills developed over the course of the academic year that cannot be learned on the fly from Google or chatrooms. Like college history and literary essays, these AP Exams are open book/open note. Students will see the topic at the start of the exam and they’ll need to write and submit their responses within the testing time. Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide. Students may consult textbooks and notes. Each student response will be monitored by plagiarism detection software, and students whose responses mirror content from the web or other students’ submissions will be disqualified. We will also disqualify any student sharing exam content via social media, websites, and other means.
Q: Will students with approved testing accommodations such as extended time be able to use them on the exams?
A: Yes. Details will be shared closer to the exams.
Q: Will exams be available in all subjects?
A: Yes. By April 3, we’ll publish the full exam schedule including the specific free-response question types that will comprise each AP exam.
Q: Will the exam cost the same as before?
A: Yes. Last year, the College Board’s expenses (e.g., printing, shipping, scoring of AP Exams) and services (e.g., fee waivers, scholarships, professional development of teachers) took up ~98% of annual revenues. This year, the unanticipated cost of building and deploying new capabilities like online testing, plagiarism checks, and online scoring of student essays – all on top of our regular expenses and services, will more than fully consume the test fees we receive, even with a shorter exam.