In 2026, ~50,000 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population, submitted AP Art and Design: 2D portfolios for evaluation by professors and teachers.

Unlike most AP subjects, AP Art and Design: 2D is assessed entirely through a portfolio of student work rather than an exam. The Development Committee of faculty who design the portfolio requirements and scoring rubrics embed a breadth of conceptual and technical challenges that reflect the high standards of university-level studio art programs. I was thrilled that their work to create a superb way of measuring students’ artistic skills was selected for a dedicated chapter in the most recent volume of the Gordon Commission’s Handbook on Assessment in the Service of Learning, published several months ago and available as a free download here.

Specifically, students’ portfolios are composed of two required components:

1.Sustained Investigation (60% of the score): A body of 15 images demonstrating inquiry, experimentation, revision, and synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. This ensures that artistic excellence is assessed holistically, rewarding not just technical proficiency but also creative thinking, artmaking, and conceptual sophistication.

This component is scored on four rubric dimensions:

A. Inquiry. Students earning these points provided both written and visual evidence that aligned to demonstrate the student’s intentional approach to defining an inquiry and then pursuing it through their sustained investigation. To earn an AP 3, students typically earned at least 3 points on this dimension, to earn an AP 4, 4 points, and to achieve an AP 5, 5 points.

B. Practice, Experimentation, and Revision. This rubric dimension rewarded students for taking creative risks, exploring multiple directions, and showing how their ideas and artmaking changed and developed over time — a hallmark of sophisticated artistic process that is the clearest differentiator between portfolios earnings AP 5s, which typically earned full points on this dimension, and AP 4s, which did not.

C. Materials, Processes, and Ideas. Students received their highest ratings, overall, on this dimension, which assesses how students utilize and reflect on the materials, processes, and ideas that shape their work. This suggests that this year's 2D students brought particular strength in connecting the technical and conceptual aspects of their practice.

D. Skills. Students also generally performed very well on this dimension, which evaluates command of the required 2D artmaking skills, indicating that many AP 2D Art and Design students are demonstrating remarkable technical proficiency alongside conceptual depth.

2.Selected Works (40% of the score): A selection of 5 works that best represent the student's creativity, range of skills, and mastery of 2D media and processes. Each work submitted needed to stand on its own as a unique work of art while also showcasing range across technique and conceptual depth. To attain an AP 5, students were typically missing no more than one point on this section of the portfolio.

Unlike most AP Exams, AP Art and Design: 3D is assessed entirely through a portfolio of student work rather than a written exam. I’m always excited to hear of the acclaim the AP Art and Design Development Committee of professors and art teachers has received from institutions nationwide for their design of a rigorous, multi-dimensional portfolio structure that measures student mastery across both conceptual and technical dimensions of 3D art-making.

What makes the portfolio rubrics especially well aligned to college and career practices for art making is that students are assessed not just on the quality of finished works, but on their capacity for sustained intellectual and artistic inquiry — the same kind of iterative, reflective practice that professional artists and designers pursue. Students must document and justify the development of their ideas, demonstrating growth and decision-making across their body of work.

The AP Art and Design: 3D portfolio is composed of two required components:

• Sustained Investigation (60% of the score): A body of 15 images demonstrating inquiry-driven, iterative exploration of a central artistic question or idea, evaluated across four criteria: Inquiry; Practice, Experimentation, and Revision; Materials, Processes, and Ideas; and Skills.
• Selected Works (40% of the score): A selection of 5 works (with views from multiple angles, showcasing how the works interact with space) that best represent the student’s range of skills and mastery of 3D media and processes.

Sustained Investigation

Students generally received their highest scores on the “Materials, Processes, and Ideas” rubric row. Students earning an AP 3 typically earned at least 3 points on this row, an AP 4, at least 4 points, and an AP 5, at least 5 points.

Students found the “Practice, Experimentation, and Revision” dimension to be the most challenging this year. This component asked students to show both visual and written evidence of ways their portfolio developed through practice, experimentation, and revision. This is aspect of the portfolio rubric most differentiated AP 4s, who were able to articulate such development, progression, and revision, from AP 3s, who weren’t.

Selected Works

Students earning all or all-but-one of the points on this section of their portfolio – the standard for an AP 5 -- demonstrated exceptional technical command of required 3D skills, written evidence, and synthesis alongside a coherent and compelling artistic vision.

The 2026 AP Art History exam scores: 5: 15%; 4: 25%; 3: 27%; 2: 24%; 1: 9%

The 2026 AP Art History exam was taken by ~25,500 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population.

AP Art History Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

The MCQ section spans ten geographic and chronological content areas, five thematic categories, seven skills, and four media types.

Students demonstrated superb knowledge of artworks from Unit 1: Global Prehistory (30,000–500 BCE), the highest-scoring content area on the exam. This performance reflects students’ strong foundational understanding of some of the earliest surviving artistic traditions, from Paleolithic cave paintings to Neolithic funerary objects in China. Notably, 51% of students earned every point possible on questions related to these works.

By contrast, the most challenging content area for this year’s students was Unit 5: Indigenous Americas (1000 BCE - 1980 CE); 8% of students answered all these questions correctly.

AP Art History Free-Response Questions (FRQ):

Each AP exam has multiple versions for different time zones. I'll focus the commentary below on the primary form. The free-response questions are available here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-art-history.pdf

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the FRQs deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

Looking at this year’s questions, I’m impressed by the ways the committee members who design the AP Art History FRQs drew upon works from across the globe -- from ancient Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica, Baroque Europe, 20th-century American architecture, Hindu South Asia, and contemporary Korea – to provide students with opportunities to think as art historians.

FRQ #1, the Long Essay: Comparison presented students with an image of Sumerian Votive Figures (c. 2900–2600 BCE) and asked them to select and compare another work of art in which the human form is also altered.

Students were asked to describe the visual characteristics of the Votive Figures and a selected comparison object, and these entry-level points were earned by 92% and 84% of this year’s students, respectively. But to achieve a score of 3 or higher, students needed to move beyond description to explain meaningful similarities and differences between the two works or how the artists’ stylistic choices reflected the beliefs and values of their respective cultures.

FRQ #2, the Long Essay: Visual and Contextual Analysis, asked students to select a work of art from the Indigenous Americas (1000 BCE to 1980 CE) that expresses cultural values through references to the natural world.

This long essay, more difficult than FRQ1, serves to differentiate among AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving AP 2s find this essay extremely challenging and earn few or no points on it. In contrast:

While students receiving AP3s are typically able to generate a thesis and provide supporting evidence, those earning AP 4s were also successful in explaining their reasoning in how relevant visual and contextual evidence supported their claim. Students earning AP 5 scores were more likely to demonstrate nuanced argumentation by qualifying their claims, drawing meaningful connections, and earning the complexity point.

FRQ #3, Visual Analysis, presented students with Peter Paul Rubens's The Coronation of Marie de Medici (c. 1622–25), a work outside of the required image set. This question focused on baseline, foundational art history knowledge and visual analysis skills; students receiving AP 2s earned most of the points on this FRQ, which served to differentiate among 1s, 2s, and 3s, with students who earned a 3 or higher able to earn all points possible here.

FRQ #4, Contextual Analysis, asked students to analyze Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (1936–39, Bear Run, Pennsylvania). In five structured points, students had to describe a visual characteristic of the building, describe its location, explain two distinct ways the site influenced Wright's design decisions, and explain how Fallingwater demonstrates broader changes in early 20th-century architectural design. The question rewarded close observation of how the built form responds to the natural landscape, and broad contextual knowledge of modernist architecture. It served to distinguish students receiving AP 5, who were typically able to earn all the points possible on this question, and other students, who were not.

For example, 14% of students were able to write about the connection between Fallingwater and the broader rise of modernism in early 20th-century architecture — such as cantilever construction, open floor plans, buildings designed around their natural surroundings, and the blurring of indoor/outdoor space. This was the hardest point on FRQ #4, generally earned by students who achieved AP 5s.

FRQ #5, Attribution of an Unknown Work, showed students a Chola bronze sculpture of Shiva Nataraja (South India/Tamil Nadu, c. 10th–12th century CE) and asked them to correctly attribute it to its culture of origin.

The attribution question is traditionally among the most demanding questions on the exam because it requires students to apply their knowledge to an unfamiliar work rather than analyze a required image. Accordingly, it aimed to differentiate between AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving AP 1s and 2s generally found it too challenging. Students earning AP 3s were able to correctly attribute the piece and justify the attribution using visual evidence. Students earning 4s were able also to draw upon contextual evidence to explain religious beliefs and practices of the culture of origin. And students earning AP 5s typically earned 100% of the points possible across all parts of this FRQ.

FRQ #6, Continuity and Change, presented students with Summer Trees by Song Su-nam (1979 CE), a required work from the course curriculum created using ink on paper. Students were asked to describe the work’s subject matter and medium, explain how it demonstrates continuity with earlier East Asian artistic traditions, how it demonstrates change from those traditions, and connect it to Global Contemporary art.

This was a moderately challenging question, differentiating between AP 2s, 3s, and 4s, as the most difficult points were typically attainable by students earning AP 4s, and students earning AP 3s could move beyond description to explanations of continuity / change, whereas students earning AP 2s were usually only able to describe the work.

In 2026, ~185,000 AP students took the AP Chemistry Exam — roughly 1% of the U.S. high school population.

 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

• Students performed especially well on questions covering Unit 1: Atomic Structure and Properties (70% of students earned most of the points available on such questions), Unit 4: Chemical Reactions (74% of students earned most of these points), and Unit 9: Thermodynamics and Electrochemistry (72% earned most of these points).
• The most challenging MCQ content area was Unit 7: Equilibrium, a unit that requires students to write equilibrium expressions, calculate equilibrium quantities, predict shifts using Le Chatelier's Principle, and relate Ksp to ion concentrations in solubility problems. 34% of students answered most of these questions correctly. Almost as challenging were the questions related to Unit 6: Thermochemistry; 49% of students got most of these right.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ):

Each AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. I'll focus the commentary below on the version taken by most students: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-chemistry.pdf

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1, the KCl Calorimetry and Solubility question (10 points), is a multi-part investigation anchored in dissolution thermochemistry, and it was the most difficult of the long questions on this year’s exam, serving to differentiate among exams scoring AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving AP 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn many of these points. The breadth of knowledge and skills demanded here, from conceptual reasoning about atomic structure to multi-step calorimetric calculations to qualitative equilibrium analysis, is a great representation of rigorous, college-level lab chemistry.

• Part B (describing how to identify when dissolution ends) was a key differentiator between AP 3s and AP 2s, as AP 3s were consistently able to earn this point, whereas AP 2s were not.
• Part D (applying error analysis to justify a directional claim about the calculated enthalpy) was the most challenging part of this question, typically achieved only by students receiving AP 5s.

FRQ #2, the Chromium Species question (10 points), asked students to work through various concepts, from Lewis structures to electrochemical stoichiometry using Faraday's laws, and first-order reaction kinetics. The final part required students to draw a natural log of concentration versus time graph to demonstrate their understanding of how changing reactant concentration shifts a kinetics curve. Almost as challenging as FRQ 1, this question also served to differentiate among students scoring AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving scores of AP 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn many of these points.

• Part E (using data specifically from the concentration versus time graph to support that the reaction is first order) was the most challenging point on Q2, and it differentiated between students receiving an AP 5 and those earning an AP 4, who were not usually able to earn this point.
• Part B(i) (writing a balanced net ionic equation for the reaction between chromate and a strong acid) was almost as challenging, also often making the difference between whether a student received a 4 or a 5.

FRQ #3, the Nitrous Acid question (10 points), was somewhat less challenging than the two other long questions, serving also to differentiate between scores of AP 2 and 3. Across this FRQ, students were asked to demonstrate a range of college-level chemistry knowledge and skills, from identifying conjugate acid-base pairs to calculating various weak acid equilibrium quantities to analyzing the results of a titration experiment.

• Part D (using the titration curve to determine the pH at the equivalence point) was an important distinguishing point for students earning AP 3s, requiring a fundamental understanding of the stoichiometric endpoint; students receiving AP 2s were not typically able to earn this point.
• Part G (calculating the K value for the neutralization reaction) was the most difficult point on this question, usually only earned by students achieving AP 4s and 5s.

FRQ #4, the P4 and P2 Equilibrium question, spans molecular structure reasoning all the way to thermodynamic argumentation — in just four points.

• The second point of Part B (calculating Kp from partial pressures) was earned by most students, but was not typically attained by students receiving 1s and 2s.
• Part C (justifying whether the reaction was endothermic based on thermodynamic principles) was the most challenging part of this question, typically performed accurately by students receiving 4s and 5s.

FRQ #5, the CBrClF2 Molecular Structure question (4 points) was challenging, distinguishing between scores of AP 4 and 5, as students receiving other scores were not usually able to earn many of these points. This question weaves together VSEPR theory, electronegativity, and intermolecular force reasoning — three important and interconnected concepts in first-semester college chemistry.

• Part B (explaining bond angle differences via electron cloud size and repulsion) was the most challenging point, generally only earned by the students receiving AP 5s.

FRQ #6, the Vanadium(II) Spectrophotometry question (4 points), was a moderately challenging question, and helped to distinguish among students within the score range of AP 3, 4, and 5, as students with lower scores generally could not engage with this level of difficulty. This question was anchored in an authentic laboratory context: students had to draw a particle diagram to represent the dilution of a V2+ solution; apply Beer's Law to calculate molar absorptivity from a standard curve; use molar absorptivity to find the concentration of an unknown solution; and assess the effect of a volumetric error on the calculated molarity — correctly determining the direction of the error and supporting the claim with a valid justification.

• Part A (drawing a particle model consistent with dilution by a factor of 2) is an effective differentiator between students achieving AP scores of 2, which could not earn this point, and scores of 3, which could.

FRQ #7, the Na2O Enthalpy question (4 points), was another challenging one. Students had to apply Hess's Law to calculate ΔH°; identify the limiting reactant from reactant masses; calculate the energy released from that amount of limiting reactant; and explain why Na2O has weaker lattice energy than Rb2O by connecting the separation between ions to Coulombic force

• Part C (requiring students to invoke the relationship between ionic separation and lattice energy using Coulomb's law reasoning) was earned by 17% of students, typically only achieved by students receiving an AP 5.

~21,000 students took the 2026 AP Chinese Language & Culture exam, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population. 70% of the AP Chinese students were heritage speakers of Chinese. 

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

• Multiple-choice performance was consistently strong with students earning, on average, ~85% of the MCQ points across all 15 content and skill subsections.
• Students did exceptionally well on Unit 4 questions (How Science and Technology Affect Our Lives), with AP 4s and AP 5s typically answering 100% of these questions right.
• The most demanding MCQ subsection was Making Connections; AP 5s were the only group able to succeed on 100% of these questions.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-chinese-language.pdf

The committee of professors and teachers designed the FRQs to require students to demonstrate proficiency across four distinct modes: interpersonal writing, presentational writing, interpersonal speaking, and presentational speaking. These modalities mirror the range of real-world language demands that college students face in Chinese language courses. Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the FRQs deliberately include some very advanced and difficult points designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate among AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and foundational points to distinguish AP 1s from AP 2s.

Written Section:

FRQ 1: The Story Narration task presented students with four sequential images depicting a woman who misses a birthday party due to a traffic delay, requiring them to compose a complete narrative in written Chinese addressed to a friend. The task demands not only vocabulary range and grammatical accuracy but the compositional skill to infer cause, describe sequence, and convey emotional context across a non-Roman script. This question is the easiest of the FRQs, differentiating the AP 1s from the AP 2s, as students earning a 2 or higher needed to be able to earn most of these points.

FRQ 2: The Email Response task asked students to read an email from a friend requesting advice about the use of technology for learning Chinese and then compose a culturally appropriate written reply in Chinese. The task rewarded not just linguistic precision but also the ability to match the right tone, directly address the request for advice, and craft a well-developed response in an interpersonal written format.

Speaking Section:

FRQ 3: The Interpersonal Speaking task (Conversation) placed students in a simulated six-turn spoken exchange with a Chinese-speaking interlocutor planning a family visit, requiring spontaneous real-time responses (20 seconds per turn) on topics ranging from best travel times and local transportation to dining and gift recommendations. This is a cognitively demanding question that requires knowledge of cultural and practical vocabulary under the pressure of real-time verbal responses without preparation. Accordingly, FRQ 3 especially differentiates students who should receive an AP 3 from those who receive an AP 2: students receiving AP 3s are expected to earn the majority of these points.

FRQ 4: The Cultural Presentation task asked students to choose one traditional Chinese value and deliver a two-minute oral presentation (after four minutes of prep) explaining what the value is and why it matters. Doing this well required cultural knowledge, a clear line of argument, and the ability to sustain a coherent, developed response in spoken Chinese. This was the most challenging of the FRQs, which distinguished the AP 5s, who were expected to earn all or all but one of these points, from the AP 4s.

In 2026, ~23,000 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population, submitted an AP Art and Design: Drawing portfolio for evaluation by professors and teachers.

Unlike most AP exams, AP Art and Design: Drawing has no multiple-choice section. Students are assessed entirely through a portfolio submitted at the end of the year, evaluated by a national convening of college art professors and high school art educators.

The portfolio has two components:

• The Sustained Investigation, in which students develop a body of 15 images exploring an individual artistic inquiry.
• Selected Works, in which students submit 5 works demonstrating their technical mastery and artistic range. This portfolio format demands sustained discipline over months— mirroring the expectations of a college foundation drawing course and requiring the kind of long-term artistic commitment that builds genuine creative and technical expertise.

Across the various dimensions of the rubric, a few patterns stood out to me:

• Students demonstrated their strongest performance on the Skills rubric row, which assesses drawing issues. The strong performance here reflects the good focus many AP Drawing students and teachers dedicated to practice, development, and skill refinement.
• Practice, Experimentation & Revision was the most challenging component, and rewarded visible evidence of artistic risk-taking and revision, a rubric row that very much differentiated portfolios earning AP 5s and AP 4s from those earning AP 3s, which were much less effective at demonstrating this.

Selected Works were evaluated against college-level standards for drawing, such as command of mark-making, line, surface, space, light and shade, and composition.

• Students earning high scores on this section were those demonstrating clear written evidence, synthesis, and drawing skills, with portfolios earning an AP 5 generally not missing more than one point across this entire section of the portfolio.

The 2026 AP Environmental Science Exam scores:

5: 13%; 4: 29%; 3: 27%; 2: 15%; 1: 16%

The 2026 AP Environmental Science exam was taken by ~245,000 students, roughly 1.6% of the U.S. high school population.

AP Environmental Science Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs):

Students demonstrated strong understanding of Unit 7: Atmospheric Pollution and Unit 5: Land and Water Use. Typically, students achieving AP 4s and AP 5s answered 100% of these questions correctly, students achieving AP 3s only missed a single point within this unit, and students receiving AP 2s answered all but two such questions right.

Their performance was similarly strong on questions related to Unit 5, Land and Water Use. To achieve an AP 5, students generally answered 100% of these questions right, to achieve an AP 4, at least 91% of these questions right, and to achieve an AP 3, at least 80% of these questions right.

Questions about Unit 2: The Living World - Biodiversity helped to distinguish students earning AP scores of 3 or higher, who were typically able to answer most of these questions correctly, from students receiving AP scores of 1 and 2, who were not. Based on this, students may benefit from more instructional emphasis on concepts related to biodiversity.

The most challenging MCQs required Skill 6: Mathematical Routines. Math remains one of the most differentiating skills for students in this course, as students were generally able to answer a meaningful number of these questions correctly in order to receive an AP 3 or higher, and typically answered all or all-but-one correctly to receive an AP 5.

AP Environmental Science Free-Response Questions (FRQs):

The FRQ section is designed to assess students' capacity to integrate topics across the AP Environmental Science course framework and apply their understanding of these topics to real-world scenarios. For the 2026 exam, the FRQ section covered topics such as species distribution, climate adaptation, energy systems, aquatic pollution, and wildlife conservation. Each free response question includes 10 points and is designed to assess a range of skill levels within the same question, with a focus on higher-order skills expected of college-level learning in environmental science.

Here’s a link to this year’s questions: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-environmental-science.pdf

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

This section as a whole required students to demonstrate their understanding of experimental design (Q1), analyze real environmental data (Q2), and use mathematical operations to analyze an environmental problem (Q3). To be blunt: the faculty committee who wrote these questions was laser-focused on the higher-order skills that represent college-level performance.

FRQ #1: Design an Investigation

This question presented students with a diagram of five bird species' current and predicted future elevation distributions within a tropical mountain range. Among other tasks, students had to interpret species richness patterns, reason about climate conditions at different elevations, and explain predator-prey dynamics in response to shifting prey communities. The question required students to demonstrate the capacity to apply fundamental concepts to a breadth of scenarios grounded in terrestrial ecology, marine biology, and climate systems.

Part A was a basic entry point that requires a fundamental skill expected even among many students receiving AP 1s: the ability to accurately read a scientific diagram. 93% of students earned this point.

Part C differentiated between students receiving an AP 2 and those receiving an AP 1; it required students to verbalize an understanding of a core principle in predator / prey dynamics.

Parts D and F, which require students to understand and explain a scientific prediction, and to identify an independent variable within a scientific experiment, distinguish students achieving AP 3s, who were able to earn these points, from students receiving AP 2s, who are not.

Part G, which required students to articulate an experimental design question relevant to the stimulus, was the best differentiator between students achieving AP 4s and students achieving AP 3s; students receiving the lower score were usually unable to demonstrate this skill.

Part H, in which students were asked to explain how sediment volume changed experimental conclusions, was the most difficult point to earn, typically achieved only by students receiving AP 5s, and Part I (in which students needed to describe a positive feedback loop in the Arctic) was also quite challenging, the best differentiator between AP 4s, who often could not earn this point, and AP 5s, who typically could; 17% of students earned the point for Part I.

FRQ #2: Analyze an Environmental Problem and Propose a Solution

This question used a graph of energy consumption by source from 1950 to 2020 to assess students' ability to read longitudinal data, explain mechanisms behind energy transitions, and reason about electricity generation from both fossil fuel and nuclear sources. The question then shifted to aquatic ecology, asking students to explain how excess nutrients from runoff can drive eutrophication and hypoxia, and to propose and justify a realistic solution to this problem.

Part B – as in FRQ 1, the point requiring basic, accurate understanding of scientific data within a graph – was expected even among many students receiving an AP 1. 96% of students were able to earn this point, the easiest within this year’s entire FRQ section.

Part A was the key differentiating point between AP scores of 2 and 1, as students receiving an AP 1 were generally unable to recall and state with accuracy a renewable energy source that is used to generate electricity.

Part E, H, and I distinguished students achieving AP 4s and AP 5s from students achieving AP 3s, who were able to succeed on the other parts of this FRQ, but often found these three parts too challenging.

FRQ #3: Analyze an Environmental Problem and Propose a Solution Doing Calculations

This question required students to apply mathematical skills to the analysis of a real-world conservation scenario involving ocelots. Students estimated percent change in ocelot habitat, applied the Rule of 70 to estimate population doubling time, and reasoned through dietary needs based on available prey and assumptions about trophic energy transfer. They also proposed and justified a realistic solution to wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Part A, in which students identified an environmental consequence of a reduced ocelot population, was earned by 85% of students, serving as the key differentiator between AP 2s and AP 1s on this question.

Parts B, C – each of which require mathematical calculations – were the most significant differentiators between students achieving AP 4s and students receiving AP 3s, as students receiving AP 3s were not consistently able to earn all four of these points.

Part E, which required students to calculate the number of individual prey needed to fill a particular dietary component for ocelots, was the clearest distinction between students earning a 3, who were generally able to succeed on these tasks, and students receiving a 2, who were not.

Part D, which did not require a mathematical operation, was the most challenging part of this FRQ, usually only earned by students receiving AP 4s and 5s.

The 2026 AP European History Exam scores: 5: 16%; 4: 33%; 3: 25%; 2: 18%; 1: 8%

The 2026 AP European History exam was taken by ~91,000 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population.

AP European History Free-Response Questions (FRQ)

Each AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. The commentary below focuses on the version taken by the majority of AP European History students: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-european-history.pdf

AP European History Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)

AP European History performed well across all units of the course, but strongest on questions related to Units 3 and 4 — Absolutism and Constitutionalism, and the Scientific, Philosophical, and Political developments of 1648–1815. AP teachers’ skill in teaching the Enlightenment, the rise of constitutional monarchies, and early modern state-building was evident.

AP European History Short Answer Questions (SAQs)

SAQ 1, the secondary source analysis based on historian Jonathan Healey’s work on 17th-century England: Many students handled Parts A and B well, demonstrating a solid ability to read and understand complex historical texts. Part C, which asked students to extend or modify the argument with additional evidence, was the most challenging part, distinguishing students earning AP 4s and 5s from those earning other scores.

SAQ 2, the primary source analysis of the Munitions Girls painting: Students earning AP 3s were able to succeed on parts A and B, reflecting their preparedness to analyze visual primary sources and situate them historically, whereas students receiving AP 1s and 2s were not. As with SAQ 1, Part C proved the most difficult, again serving as a key differentiator between AP 4s/5s and lower scores.

AP European History Document-Based Question (DBQ): Peter the Great and Catherine the Great

The DBQ asked students to analyze documents related to Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, and then to craft an evidence-based essay that argued which of the two leaders did more to transform Russia. Here is how students fared on each rubric row: •

• 87% of students earned the Thesis/Claim point — a strong result, showing that the large majority of AP European History students can construct a historically defensible argument after analyzing primary sources. 
• 56% of students earned the Contextualization point, placing the rulers’ programs within the broader context of European intellectual, political, or cultural history. •
• 95% of students earned at least one Evidence from Documents point, demonstrating the ability to use primary source content as historical evidence. 
• 35% of students earned the Evidence Beyond the Documents point — a strong differentiator of AP 4s and 5s, requiring students to summon relevant, outside historical knowledge not contained in the document set.
• 35% of students earned the Analysis and Reasoning: Sourcing point, demonstrating they could evaluate a document’s historical context, purpose, audience, or point of view.
• 27% of students earned the Analysis and Reasoning: Complex Understanding point. This was the most advanced point to earn on the DBQ, requiring students to demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the historical topic through sophisticated connections, qualifications, or corroborations.

AP European History Long Essay Questions (LEQ)

Students chose one of three Long Essay prompts. Here is a summary of performance across the three options:

LEQ 4, the World War I question, was selected by about three times more students than those who selected LEQ 3 and LEQ 2, and it was also the highest-scoring Long Essay topic: an impressive 24% of students who wrote this essay achieved perfect scores of 6/6 points on it (I believe this is the strongest performance I’ve ever seen on an AP European History long essay!). The prompt clearly drew well-prepared students, and performance on all four scoring rows was notably strong: 73% earned the Thesis point, 73% earned the Contextualization point, 60% earned both Evidence points, and 29% earned both Analysis and Reasoning points — all well above LEQ 2 and LEQ 3 performance.

LEQ 3, the 19th-Century Industrialization and Reform question, showed a noteworthy pattern: 83% of students earned the Contextualization point — the highest contextualization success of any LEQ this year — but 57% of students earned the Thesis point, 35% earned both Evidence points, and 11% earned both Analysis and Reasoning points, all lower than student performance on LEQ 4. 10% of students who wrote this essay achieved perfect scores of 6/6 points on it.

LEQ 2, the Social Hierarchies (1450-1600) question, is the one I would have selected to write about if I’d taken this year’s exam, since I’ve spent the past year immersed in 15th-century European history for my personal reading project – all those Burgundians, all those Florentines – but it would likely have been my undoing, as it proved to be quite a difficult topic for those who selected it. 58% of students earned the Thesis point, 68% earned the Contextualization point, 36% earned both Evidence points, and 13% earned both Analysis and Reasoning points. 10% of students who chose this topic achieved perfect scores of 6/6 points on it, demonstrating impressive historical reasoning ability across a topic that spanned multiple centuries.

The 2026 AP Comparative Government & Politics exam was taken by approximately 30,000 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ)

1. Students performed best on questions related to Unit 1 (Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments and Unit 3 (Political Culture and Participation). Because these topics are fundamental, students earning scores of 3, 4, or 5 were expected to answer virtually all of these questions right. Even to earn a score of 2, students needed to answer the majority of these questions correctly.

2. The most challenging MCQ content area was Party and Electoral Systems and Citizen Organizations (Unit 4). The questions often require students to compare the mechanisms of citizen participation and electoral competition with cross-national nuance.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ) https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-comp-gov-pol.pdf

I’ve been genuinely impressed by the thematic range of this year’s four free-response questions. The Development Committee designed questions that move students fluidly between conceptual analysis, quantitative data interpretation, cross-national comparison, and sustained evidence-based argumentation. Taken together, the four FRQs span the course’s big ideas: political socialization and ideology, state stability and fragility, civil liberties and social movements, and the institutional foundations of accountability.

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some especially difficult points designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1, the Political Socialization question, required students to engage with one of the discipline’s most foundational concepts across four graduated tasks. Part A asked students to describe political socialization itself; Part B to describe its relationship to political ideology; Part C to explain how the state can influence the process; and Part D — the most demanding task — to explain why authoritarian regimes are typically more involved in shaping political socialization than democratic ones. Each part builds on the prior, moving from definition to relationship to causal explanation. Many students knew this content well; ~30% of this year’s group earned all points possible on this FRQ.

FRQ #2, the Fragile States Index question, presented students with a multi-country line graph tracking state fragility scores from 2014 to 2024. The question required students to read data accurately, describe trends, apply conceptual knowledge about political party systems, and then synthesize data and course knowledge to draw a conclusion about Nigeria’s political stability and to explain the relationship between party systems and fragility scores.

• Parts A and B, which asked students to interpret the data (identifying the second-most fragile country in 2016 and describing the diverging trends of Russia and Iran from 2020 to 2024), were designed to differentiate AP scores of 2 from AP scores of 1, and were points earned by most students.
• Part D was a moderately difficulty point to earn, distinguishing AP 3s from AP 2s by requiring interpretation and explanation of the data, a fundamental skill for college success.
• Parts C and E were the most demanding tasks in Q2, earned by 29% and 24% of students respectively. Part C required students to summon and articulate an important course concept; Part E asked them to explain what the data reveal about the relationship between a country’s party system and its fragility score, an inferential task requiring synthesis across the graph and conceptual frameworks. These two parts were decisive in identifying AP 5 performance.
• The steep gradient within Q2, from ~90% of students answering Parts A and B correctly to 24% answering Part E effectively, is a hallmark of a psychometrically strong question: it spread student responses effectively across the full score range, from AP 1 through AP 5, with each part of the question yielding meaningful information about student mastery of the course content and skills.

FRQ #3, the Civil Liberties and Social Movements question, is the exam’s Comparative Analysis question and effectively differentiates between AP scores of 4 and 3, with students expected to answer all parts of this question thoroughly and accurately to receive an AP 4. Students were asked to compare how government policies on civil liberties affect social movements in two different course countries — requiring them first to describe a characteristic of a social movement (Part A), then to describe one way each of two countries protects or restricts civil liberties (Part B), and finally to explain how those protections or restrictions actually affect social movements in each country (Part C). The question demands both accurate country-specific knowledge and the ability to draw a causal line from institutional design to political outcomes.

FRQ #4, the Argument Essay on Legislative Independence and Corruption, asked students to develop a defensible argument as to whether having an independent legislative branch promotes or discourages corruption in a country, drawing on the course concepts of separation of powers, transparency, and accountability. This is a rigorous prompt, the most challenging question on this year’s exam. It rewarded students who could construct a coherent line of reasoning, support it with specific evidence from course countries, and meaningfully engage with an opposing view. Scored on four dimensions — Claim/Thesis, Evidence, Line of Reasoning, and Response to Alternate Perspectives — this question assessed a variety of academic writing and argumentation skills expected in college-level political science.

The most challenging point to attain for this essay was the point for responding to an opposing or alternate perspective, using refutation, concession, or rebuttal. 26% of students this year earned this point.

To earn an AP 5, students were expected to achieve all points possible for this essay, and to earn an AP 4, students were earning all but one point. Students earning AP 3s were able to articulate a thesis statement and support it with evidence, but their evidence was typically less substantive and their line of reasoning less effective than among students earning AP 4s and 5s.

The 2026 AP United States Government and Politics exam was taken by ~430,000 students, roughly 2.5% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs):

Students scored highest on questions related to Civil Rights and Liberties (Unit 3) and Political Participation (Unit 5); AP students scoring 3 or higher generally answered all or all but a few of these questions right.

The most challenging group of questions was related to Foundations of American Democracy (Unit 1); 28% of students answered all or all but one of these questions correctly.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): Each AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. I’ll focus the commentary below on the version taken by most students: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-us-gov-pol.pdf

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1, the Concept Application Question that required electoral systems analysis in a historical context:

Q1, the Concept Application question, centered on the 1992 presidential election and Ross Perot’s independent candidacy, asking students to describe the impact of a third-party candidate, explain the structural barriers that limited that impact, and apply a voting behavior model to explain citizen decision-making, the sort of evidence-based reasoning required in college political science courses. The question parts differentiate between students receiving AP 2s, who were not usually able to answer multiple parts of the question, and those receiving AP 3s or higher, who were.

FRQ #2, the Quantitative Analysis Question on State Income Tax Rates and Federalism This four-part question used a 2023 data map to assess data literacy and political reasoning. The question collected info used to place students on both ends of the score scale, with several relatively easy points, and one especially challenging one that distinguished scores of 5 from scores of 4.

• 1.Parts A & B require accurate reading of the data map, foundational points earned by almost all students, including those receiving 1s.
• 2.Part C was the most challenging part of this question. For students receiving AP 5s, the only group to consistently earn this point, this part required constructing an inferential argument about participatory democracy from the data rather than simply describing it.
• 3. Part D explaining federalism through state income tax variation distinguished between AP students receiving scores of 3 or better, who were typically able to explain this relationship accurately, while students receiving scores of 1 and 2 could not.

FRQ #3, the SCOTUS Comparison Question: McCulloch v. Maryland and Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc

This question required students to apply constitutional knowledge to an unfamiliar Supreme Court case, the most rigorous task on the exam. Students needed to identify the Supremacy Clause as the constitutional principle common to both the studied case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and the provided case Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. (1989). They then had to explain how facts in both cases led to similar holdings and analyze how Bonito Boats illustrates the doctrine of stare decisis. The development committee’s crafting of this question is always one of the highlights of this exam for me, a great model for assessing college-level legal reasoning.

The rigor of all parts of this question is such that it serves to differentiate between AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as exams scoring 1 and 2 are not typically earning any points on this FRQ. Students receiving an AP 3 must know constitutional principles well enough to be able to summon and state the Supremacy Clause as the common one across both cases. Students receiving an AP 4 must be able to move further into the question and explain the relationship between the facts of the cases and the resultant holdings, and students receiving an AP 5 must receiving perfect scores across all parts of this question.

FRQ #4, the Argument Essay on the Expansion of Voting Access

The Argument Essay asked students to draw upon three of the foundational documents for the course, including Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the First Amendment, and the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, to develop and defend a position on whether social movements or congressional actions have done more to expand voting opportunities in the United States. The essay required a defensible thesis, multiple pieces of specific evidence, logical reasoning connecting evidence to the claim, and a rebuttal of an opposing perspective, all within a timed, proctored environment.

Here’s what performance looked like:

Exams receiving an AP 2 were able to provide some evidence within their essay, which distinguished the work from a score of 1, but otherwise earned very few points.

On the other end of the spectrum, students achieving an AP 5 generally earned perfect scores on their essays, hitting the marks across all rows of the rubric. Exams receiving an AP 3 or an AP 4 earned a mix of points across various rubric categories, but not perfect scores.

Congrats to the students who completed the course and took this exam. In a single sitting, students interpreted a geographic data map, engaged in legal analysis of a Supreme Court case they had never seen before, applied voting behavior models to a historical election, and constructed a sustained argumentative essay drawing on foundational documents — all within the 100 minutes devoted to the free-response section. And they did all this after having spent 80 minutes answering 55 multiple-choice questions across the range of course topics.

Looking ahead to next year, four more required foundational documents have been added to the course: The Emancipation Proclamation; Federalist No. 39; The Gettysburg Address; and core principles from Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. See more info here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-us-government-and-politics-course-and-exam-description-clarifications-effective-fall-2026.pdf

The 2026 AP Human Geography exam was taken by ~300,000 students, about 2% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

Students did exceptionally well on questions requiring Data Analysis skills. Students achieving AP 5s typically answered 100% correctly; students achieving AP 4s got more than 90% right; and students earning AP 3s earned more than 80% of these points. It’s exciting to see the success students are achieving when interpreting quantitative and visual geographic data.

Students also performed very well on questions related to Unit 7: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes, demonstrating command of geography concepts that underpin real-world decisions about where industries locate and how development spreads.

The most challenging MCQs focused on Unit 4: Political Patterns and Processes, 22% of students answered all or all but one of these questions correctly.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-human-geography.pdf

aken together, Q1, Q2, and Q3 span population geography, agricultural practices, and cultural landscape analysis, inviting students to demonstrate command of a variety of geography concepts and skills during 75 minutes of analyzing, describing, and explaining.

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1: Demographic Changes This question required students to analyze demographic and political processes, including migration, population policy, technological change, and centrifugal forces.

Parts A, C, and D were entry-level points. These points were earned by 80%, 80%, and 92% of this year’s students, respectively.

Parts B and G were moderately difficult. These points were earned by 66% and 45% of students, respectively.

Parts E and F were the most challenging parts of this FRQ. These points were earned by 28% and 34% of students, respectively.

FRQ #2: Agricultural Trade

Point D of this question, earned by 21% of students, was the single hardest point across all three FRQs, requiring students to express their understanding of commodity dependence.

FRQ #3: Cultural Landscape Part C and Part G were earned by 71% and 66% of students, respectively. These points demonstrated that higher performing students were consistently able to explain the patterns within the source maps.

• AP Japanese is the first subject this year for which the scoring work is largely complete, enabling us to begin sharing key results.
• ~3,400 students took the AP Japanese Language & Culture Exam, less than 1 percent of the U.S. high school population. 55% of the AP Japanese students were heritage speakers of Japanese.
• The 2026 AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam scores: 5: 47%; 4: 10%; 3: 15%; 2: 7%; 1: 21% (Total group scores, including heritage speakers)

 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

• Students performed especially well on questions related to Unit 3, Influences of Beauty and Art and Unit 1, Families in Different Societies; 65% of students earned most or all points available on such questions.
• The most challenging MCQs were related to Unit 4, How Science and Technology Affect Our Lives; 37% of students earned most or all of these available points.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-japanese-language.pdf

The committee of professors and teachers designed these free-response questions to require students to demonstrate authentic communicative proficiency across four distinct modes — interpersonal writing, presentational writing, interpersonal speaking, and presentational speaking — mirroring the range of real-world language demands that college students face in Japanese language courses. Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately includes some very advanced / difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, some moderately challenging points, designed to differentiate between AP 4s, AP 3s, and AP 2s, and novice-level points, designed to differentiate AP 1s from AP 2s.

Written Section:

FRQ1: The text-chat task about artificial intelligence required six written exchanges. Students had 90 seconds per turn to move through a deliberately escalating sequence, describing AI's presence in their country, explaining its benefits, advising on its risks, and predicting its future. Students read and responded to these messages in Japanese using hiragana, katakana, and kanji in real time, reflecting the kind of digital literacy that is increasingly central to authentic Japanese communication. Students unable to produce accurate, contextually appropriate written Japanese did not succeed on this task, the most difficult on the exam. Given its difficulty, this question differentiated especially well between AP 5s and AP 4s, with 5s reserved for students able to earn all or most of the 36 points possible.

FRQ 2: The compare-and-contrast article on weather required students to produce structured, extended written Japanese of 300–400 characters or more — a task that rewards not just vocabulary breadth but grammatical precision, organizational skill, and the ability to develop an argument across multiple paragraphs in a non-Roman script language that college students typically study for years before reaching this level.

Speaking Section:

FRQ 3: The interpersonal speaking task placed students in a simulated conversation about preparing for a Japanese speech contest, requiring them not only to respond spontaneously in Japanese but to demonstrate the kind of meta-linguistic and cultural self-awareness (explaining their topic choice and presentation approach) that signals genuine proficiency. This dialogue contained points spread across a broad mix of difficulty levels, including novice, intermediate, and advanced points, enabling differentiation of student performance across the 5-point AP scale, with students earning AP 2s needing to earn at least 10 points in the dialogue – equivalent to a college D, to distinguish themselves from AP 1s.

FRQ 4: The cultural presentation. An extremely demanding task, in which students delivered a 2-minute oral presentation (after just 4 minutes of prep) presenting their own view or perspective on the role of transportation in Japanese culture, covering at least five distinct aspects or examples, with a proper introduction, supporting details, personal perspective, and a concluding remark. This FRQ was overall the highest-scoring of all of the free-response questions this year, and effectively differentiated between AP 3s and AP 2s, with students required to earn most of these points in order to receive an AP 3, while AP 5s were reserved for students who earned near-perfect and perfect scores on these presentations.

AP 2026 Macroeconomics exam was taken by 189,000 students, ~1% of the U.S. high school population. 

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

• Once again, students demonstrated impressive performance on Unit 1, Basic Economic Concepts questions, with over 55% of students earning all or nearly all the available points in this section. Students also performed well on Unit 2, Economic Indicators and the Business Cycle questions, with 46% of students earning all or nearly all such available points.
• The Financial Sector (Unit 4) was the toughest climb within the MCQs: ~15% of students earned all or nearly all of these points.
• Across the course skills, students found manipulation tasks and numerical analysis most demanding, skills that reflect college-level expectations that students not only recognize economic relationships, but calculate and apply them with precision.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-macroeconomics.pdf

The committee of professors and teachers designed this year’s FRQs to require students to demonstrate analytic fluency across the full scope of the AP Macroeconomics course: graphical construction and interpretation, quantitative calculation, verbal explanation, and multi-step causal reasoning.

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some especially difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

• FRQ #1, a question about the AD-AS Model and Monetary Policy, was the exam’s 10-point long free-response question, inviting students to construct a correctly labeled AD-AS graph showing an inflationary gap, explain the economy’s long-run self-adjustment, and then analyze the effects of a specific open-market operation on the money market, interest rates, international capital flows, bond prices, investment spending, and unemployment. Performance on this task differentiated especially well between AP 5s and AP 4s. Long, multi-part FRQs like this one provide great measurement value, enabling educators to evaluate student abilities across the full range of the AP score scale, with several points focused on foundational skills expected of AP 2s, and other points requiring greater depth and mastery, as expected of AP 3s and AP 4s, and finally several very challenging points (international capital flows, unemployment changes, and the long-run self-adjustment process) designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s.
• FRQ #2, a question about the Labor Market and the Phillips Curve Model, required students to work from a data table for an economy to calculate the unemployment rate, draw a correctly labeled short-run and long-run Phillips curve, plot numerical equilibrium values, and reason about how shifts in retirement affect the unemployment rate. This question’s combination of data-based calculations, graphing, and verbal explanations is representative of tasks that students earning an AP 4 or higher must consistently be able to do.
• FRQ #3, a question about Policy Effects and the Foreign Exchange Market, required students to work across multiple interconnected tasks: 1) identifying a central bank action in an ample-reserves system, 2) calculating the government spending needed to close a recessionary gap, 3) explaining the price-level effect of the change in government spending, and 4) graphing the resulting exchange-rate effect. This was the most challenging question on the exam, focused on differentiating AP 5s and AP 4s, from AP 3s, as students receiving AP 1s and AP 2s are generally unable to earn these points.

The 2026 AP Microeconomics exam was taken by 127,000 students, roughly 1% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

• Students continued to show strong command of Unit 1's Basic Economic Concepts; 27% of students earned all available points on these questions, making this the highest-scoring content area on the MCQ section
• Students also performed well on Big Idea: Costs, Benefits, and Marginal Analysis, a concept that recurs across nearly every unit of the course and also formed the backbone of free-response question #2.
• The most challenging MCQ content area was Production, Cost, and the Perfect Competition Model (Unit 3), a unit requiring students to hold several interrelated cost concepts simultaneously.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ):

Each AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. I’ll focus the commentary below on the version taken by most students: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-microeconomics.pdf

The three FRQs collectively span the AP Microeconomics curriculum — game theory and oligopoly strategy, cost structures and competitive markets, and international trade and tariff policy — requiring students seeking a score of 3 or higher to demonstrate command of the material in the 60 minutes devoted to this section.

So: very big kudos to the students who succeeded on this exam. The quantitative load was high. Students worked through a cost table to calculate average variable cost and economic profit, applied marginal analysis, reconstructed a payoff matrix after a cost shock, and drew a correctly labeled monopoly graph — showing price, quantity, ATC, and deadweight loss — all within one exam, which the committee crafted to be a superb measure of applied economics at the college level.

I also love the way the committee anchored these questions in relevant, real-world contexts, which mirror the kinds of market and policy questions economists analyze: a steel manufacturing duopoly choosing transportation and production strategies, a helmet producer navigating short-run costs and long-run competitive adjustment, and a small open economy weighing the welfare effects of free trade and tariffs.

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very advanced and difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty levels to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1, a question about Game Theory and Monopoly, required students to analyze strategic decision-making between two steel manufacturers using a payoff matrix and analyze a monopoly. In multi-part steps encompassing ten total points, students had to identify dominant strategies, determine Nash equilibria, recalculate payoffs after a cost shock, and draw a complete monopoly graph. They then had to analyze whether or not a lump-sum tax would affect the monopolist’s price. This is a good example of a free-response question that has points that spread across a range of proficiencies, so that the question contributes well to placing students within the 1-5 score scale.

For example:

• The question's tenth and final point — requiring students to correctly apply lump-sum tax reasoning — was the hardest individual point on the FRQs, a key differentiating point between AP 5s and AP 4s.
• On the other end of the spectrum, the question’s first point is much more basic, asking students to demonstrate their ability to interpret a payoff matrix accurately, a skill that must be demonstrated to earn an AP 2, but not an AP 1.

FRQ #2, a question about Short-Run Production Costs, presented students with a cost schedule for helmet production and required them to identify the market structure, calculate average variable cost and economic profit using provided data, determine the profit-maximizing quantity via marginal analysis, and reason through the long-run competitive adjustment process. This question tested whether students could execute multi-step quantitative reasoning — a hallmark of rigorous economics education — in addition to applying core conceptual frameworks about competitive markets. If a student is able to earn all 5 points on this question, they reach the standards for an AP 5. Similarly, students earning 4 of the 5 points on this question are on track for an AP 4.

FRQ #3: a question about Market Equilibrium, International Trade, and Tariff, placed students in an economic market for cucumbers requiring them to draw a correctly labeled supply-and-demand graph, analyze the effects of free trade at a world price below the domestic equilibrium price, and then evaluate the impact of a tariff on domestic producer surplus. The first point, for part A, differentiates between AP scores of 1 and 2, whereas students earning AP 5s typically answer all five parts of this question effectively.

This AP Psychology Exam was taken by over 379,000 students, 2% of the U.S. high school population, making it one of the most widely taken AP Exams. A

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ)

• Students performed exceptionally well on questions assessing Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior and Unit 2, Cognition, with 45-50% of students earning most or all available points for these sections.
• Students also performed well on MCQs assessing Skill 2: Evaluate Research Design, with 45% earning most or all available points — an indicator that many students are internalizing AP Psychology’s emphasis on scientific literacy and critical evaluation of studies.
• The most challenging MCQ content area was Unit 4, Social Psychology and Personality, suggesting students may benefit from more focus on these topics.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ) https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-psychology.pdf

I’ve been so impressed by the way the exam Development Committee of professors and teachers has designed these two FRQs to provide students with real-world, relevant opportunities to demonstrate scientific reasoning. Both questions place students in the role of a practicing psychological scientist: reading real peer-reviewed research, evaluating methodology, interpreting data, and constructing evidence-based arguments about human behavior.

FRQ#1, the Article Analysis Question on cell phone absence and anxiety, presented students with a study on whether not answering a ringing phone triggers anxiety. To earn all points, students needed to: identify the research method, operationally define anxiety as measured, interpret a statistically significant result, identify an ethical guideline, assess generalizability, and argue whether the evidence supports or refutes a FOMO explanation. Part C, in which students needed to describe the statistical significance, was the key differentiator for AP 5s, the most challenging part of this FRQ for students. Otherwise, to earn an AP 3, students needed to answer most parts of this question correctly, and generally scored very well on Part E, in which they explained the generalizability of the study, and Part A, in which they identified the research method.

FRQ#2, the Evidence-Based Question on retrieval and long-term memory retention, asked students to read and analyze three peer-reviewed studies examining how different learning schedules affect retrieval and retention of recently learned information. Students selected evidence from the sources and explained how each piece of evidence connected to a psychological concept, applying a different psychological concept to their second piece of evidence. Students did a terrific job forming a defensible claim (94% of AP Psychology students earned this point) and identifying supporting evidence. The challenge for some was connecting evidence to a psychological concept in Part C, which was a key differentiator between AP 4s and AP 5s. Students earning AP 5s are typically meeting all of the standards represented in this question, not missing any points.

AP Research papers were developed and submitted by ~53,000 students this year, less than 1% of the high school population.

About the AP Research scores

We hear often from Higher Education and employers about the need for students to develop and demonstrate durable skills. And when we surveyed AP students across all 40+ subject areas last year to ask whether what they learned in the AP course was relevant to their futures, AP Research received higher ratings than any other AP subject, period. (The next highest-rated for future relevance were Calculus, English Literature, Seminar, Spanish Language, and Spanish Literature.)

And this makes sense to me, given the persistence, self-management, and transferable skills students develop and demonstrate in AP Research. Over the course of the year, each student independently designs, plans, and carries out an original scholarly investigation on an academic topic, problem, issue, or idea of their own choosing—selecting their own research question, methodology, and sources. This kind of sustained, self-directed inquiry mirrors the authentic work of university researchers.

The course culminates in a 4,000–5,000-word academic paper and a 15–20-minute presentation with oral defense. (Students must defend their research question, methodology, and findings before a panel of evaluators—answering probing questions that test the depth and rigor of their scholarship.) The paper accounts for 75% of the AP score, and the presentation and defense for 25%.

The scoring rubric is designed to reward papers that go beyond summarizing existing research to make genuine contributions to knowledge: articulating a clear and defensible research question, applying a sound and replicable methodology, presenting logical reasoning supported by sufficient evidence, and demonstrating mastery of academic conventions including accurate citation.

The topics AP Research students pursue reflect genuine intellectual curiosity across virtually every discipline—from the sciences and social sciences to the humanities and the arts. Each year, the range and inventiveness of the research questions students generate impresses and sometimes astonishes the faculty who read and score these papers.

In short, AP Research students build and use a set of transferable research and writing skills—including literature review, research design, data analysis or textual analysis, argumentation, and citation—that are directly applicable in college coursework regardless of major. Students who complete AP Research demonstrate that they can identify a meaningful question, engage seriously with the scholarly literature, collect and analyze evidence, and communicate findings to an academic audience.

AP Research scores of 5: Papers earning AP 5s demonstrated original inquiry—a well-defined research question, a detailed and replicable methodology, logical reasoning that ties evidence to conclusions, and skillful use of academic conventions.

AP Research scores of 3 or higher: Papers earning at least a 3 advanced meaningfully beyond summary—they articulated a focused research purpose, engaged credibly with sources, and presented findings in appropriate academic form.

The 2026 AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam was taken by ~29,000 students, less than 1% of the U.S. high school population.

The AP Spanish Literature and Culture course asks high school students to read, analyze, and write about 38 literary works spanning six centuries of Spanish-language literature from Spain, Latin America, and the United States — all in Spanish. The reading list is nothing short of a who's-who of celebrated writers in the Western literary tradition: students encounter Cervantes' Don Quijote, poetry and a play by Lorca, García Márquez's fiction, sonnets by Garcilaso de la Vega and Góngora, Pablo Neruda's surrealist verse, and colonial-era chronicles, alongside voices from the 20th-century Latin American literary boom and contemporary U.S. Hispanic authors. The course traces the origins of Spanish-language literature from medieval New World chronicles through the publication of the first modern novel, and then onward to the Nobel Prize–winning poetry and magical realism of Pablo Neruda and Gabriel García Márquez. The breadth is remarkable: students move from 14th-century medieval prose to Golden Age drama to Romanticism to the Theater of the Absurd — all while comparing literary works to their cultural and historical contexts, connecting them to works of visual art, and writing sophisticated literary analyses using correct literary terms entirely in Spanish. This is a college-level reading list that would be challenging in any university introductory Spanish Literature course — and these 29,000 AP students with the help of their inspiring teachers are tackling it in high school.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

Students scored well across all units of the course, but especially on questions related to the literature that was the focus of Unit 4 (La literatura romántica, realista y naturalista) and Unit 5 (La generación del 98 y el Modernismo). Students achieving AP 5s earned all or all but one of these points.  

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-spanish-literature.pdf

ach AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. I'll focus the commentary below on the version taken by most students.

The four FRQs collectively ask students to explain a literary text, compare a text with a work of visual art, analyze a single text in a broader cultural context, and compare two texts across periods and genres — all written in Spanish and requiring nuanced command of literary vocabulary, textual analysis, and cultural knowledge – a demanding set of tasks in this timed, proctored, AI-blocked exam-taking environment.

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, with points of varying difficulty designed to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

FRQ #1, Short Answer — Text Explanation: Students were asked to explain how the theme of la transformación is developed in “Chac Mool,”, identifying the literary period and author. This question tested close-reading skills and period knowledge across two scored dimensions, the content of their response and the proficiency of their written Spanish.

To achieve an AP 4 or an AP 5, students earned all points possible on this question. Students earning AP 3 were typically able to achieve 5 of the 6 points possible, whereas students receiving AP 2s earned 3-4 of the 6 possible points. Students receiving 1s earned 2 or fewer points.

FRQ #2, Short Answer — Text and Art Comparison: This question required students to compare the theme of carpe diem in two Golden Age works – a sonnet by Garcilaso de la Verga and a painting in the Prado Museum by Juan van der Hamen y León.

This was the most difficult of this year’s FRQs, differentiating between performance at the AP 5 level (such students were able to earn all 6/6 points), and performance at the AP 4 level (such students typically earned 5/6 points).

FRQ #3, Essay — Analysis of a Single Text: Students wrote an essay analyzing La casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca. Students were asked to explain how the text represents the characteristics of la tragedia as a genre, and to situate their analysis in the cultural context of la España rural de principios del siglo XX. Students also had to incorporate a discussion of literary devices — i.e., symbolism, metaphor, dramatic structure — that support the analysis. With a maximum of 10 points possible (5 for Content, 5 for Language), this is the kind of rigorous, analytic – and AI-proof -- writing task central to college-level humanities education.

Students who scored a 4 or 5 demonstrated especially comprehensive abilities to analyze multiple dimensions of the text. They explained how Lorca's work expresses both genre conventions and Spanish rural culture at the same time, using evidence from the text. Accordingly, students achieving an AP 5 typically earned all 10 points possible, students achieving an AP 4 generally earned at least 8 points, and students achieving an AP 3 typically earned 7 points.

FRQ #4, an Essay — Text Comparison: The essay required students to compare the theme of el amor across two 19th century poems, one from the required reading list by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, and one that is not on the required reading list by Rosalía de Castro. This question represents an especially high-order task on the exam: synthesizing ideas across multiple works, constructing a comparative thesis, and executing it in sophisticated literary Spanish – which makes student performance on this essay – the highest scores of any of this year’s FRQs – all the more remarkable.

Students who achieved an AP 5 earned all 10 points possible on these essays, while students who achieved an AP 4 typically earned 9 points, and students who achieved an AP 3 generally earned at least 7 of these points. Students receiving an AP 2 had a wide range of performance on this question, generally earning 2-6 points of the 10 possible, a solid effort, even if not at the level required for college credit.

The 2026 AP Statistics exam was taken by 281,000 students, ~2% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ):

1. Students performed strongest on questions related to Units 1 and 2 (Exploring One-Variable and Two-Variable Data). The high performance here indicated that many AP Statistics students have solid foundational skills in summarizing and interpreting distributions. To receive an AP 5, students were expected to answer all 10 of these questions right, while to receive an AP 4, students were expected to miss no more than one; students receiving AP 3s were expected to answer 7/10 correctly.

2. The most challenging MCQ content area was Units 4 and 5: Probability and Sampling Distributions, a conceptually demanding area that requires students to reason about randomness, probability rules, and the behavior of sample statistics — the theoretical backbone of all of statistical inference. Accordingly, the difficulty level of these questions is such that they serve well to identify students who qualify for an AP 5.

Free-Response Questions (FRQ): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-statistics.pdf

Across this 90-minute section, students were asked to calculate five-number summaries and compare distributions, design a randomized experiment and interpret statistical significance, apply normal and binomial probability models, conduct a two-sample t-test from summary statistics, analyze a two-way table with conditional probabilities and a chi-square readiness check, and work through a multi-part linear regression analysis complete with confidence and prediction intervals. In other words, the faculty committee who designed these questions did a wonderful job of replicating the scope of a first college-level course in Statistics — no corners cut.

(As I think about what AP teachers do so admirably, this is one of those moments where I feel such awe and gratitude for the ways teachers use the scope of the exam to ensure the students in their class have the benefit of no topics falling by the wayside. There are so many pressures on teachers to let stuff slide – from snow days to spring fever to parents demanding that their children receive high grades – but AP teachers tell me all the time that they’re able to invoke the AP Exam’s demands as a reason for maintaining high standards and motivating students to spend the extra time on task that learning at the advanced level in high school demands. The TIMSS study found that AP students were studying two more hours per week than students taking a similar curriculum without a culminating AP Exam. No wonder the AP students in the study outperformed students from all other countries – that two additional hours of study each week makes a huge, cumulative difference in student learning. But this is also an important reminder that with such a significant amount of additional work, students should not be pressured to take more than 1-2 AP courses per year in high school – the load that the AP Program’s own research shows is sufficient to optimize college completion rates.)

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

Q1, Exploring Distributions: asked students to determine a five-number summary from raw data, use it alongside a boxplot to compare center and variability in context, and then explain via a stem-and-leaf plot the shape characteristics a boxplot inherently conceals. This last task, asking students to articulate why a summary representation loses information about gaps or clusters in a distribution, is a sophisticated statistical reasoning skill, which distinguished scores of AP 4 and AP 5 from the other scores. Otherwise, this was the easiest FRQ, generating data essential to differentiating between AP 1s, which were only expected to earn at least 1 of these points, from AP 2s, which were expected to earn at least 2 of the 4 points possible here.

Q2, Experimental Design and Statistical Significance: was the most challenging short free-response question, providing opportunities to identify students who should receive a 5 versus those who should receive a 4. Students had to identify treatments, experimental units, and the response variable; describe a randomization procedure; and interpret the meaning of statistical significance in context.

Q3, Probability Models: required students to apply three distinct probability models in a single question — normal, binomial, and geometric — in the context of a sports team's game-opening musical performances. Students calculated a normal probability, used the binomial distribution to find P(X ≥ 3) across ten games, and then switched to the geometric distribution to calculate the mean and standard deviation of the number of games until a long performance occurs — and interpret that standard deviation in context. This question was almost as demanding as Q2, with each part building on independent probabilistic reasoning skills, such that it served to distinguish between AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, who are expected to earn some or all of these points, while students unable to engage with any parts of this question are receive 1s and 2s.

Q4, Two-Sample t-Test: presented students with a randomized experiment comparing two fertilizer brands across 116 trees. Given summary statistics for both groups, students had to conduct a full two-sample t-test: stating hypotheses, checking conditions, computing the test statistic, finding a p-value, and drawing a conclusion in context at the α = 0.05 level. The ability to execute all steps of a significance test accurately — and communicate conclusions appropriately — is a cornerstone of college-level Statistics and this question does an excellent job, across its four points, of differentiating the knowledge and skills of a wide range of performance levels: students are expected to score perfectly here to receive an AP 5, earn at least three of the points to earn an AP 4, and at least two of the points to earn an AP 3.

Q5, Two-Way Tables, Conditional Probability, and Chi-Square Readiness: gave students a two-way table of 4,193 professional basketball, football, and baseball players categorized by age group. Students were asked to calculate and interpret conditional probabilities, read a mosaic plot, reason about mutual exclusivity and independence (showing work numerically), and assess the conditions for a chi-square test of independence. This question contains several especially difficult points that evaluate students’ qualifications for an AP 5, which students receiving the other AP scores are unable to earn.

Q6, Linear Regression: Inference, Confidence Intervals, and Prediction Intervals: was the capstone 4-point investigative task, and it asked students to engage deeply with linear regression analysis using data from 30 professional baseball teams. Students described a scatterplot relationship, used a least-squares regression equation to make a prediction, compared a circled outlier team to others of its salary class, evaluated the relative strength of linear association across high- and low-salary subgroups, calculated both a 95% confidence interval for a mean response and a 95% prediction interval for a single team, and — in the most sophisticated part — explained why prediction intervals are wider than confidence intervals by connecting the conceptual logic of individual-vs.-mean variability to the mathematical structure of the standard error formulas. This question provides a variety of opportunities for students aiming for AP 4s and AP 5s to distinguish themselves, as several of these are quite advanced points. 

The 2026 AP World History: Modern exam was taken by ~443,000 students, roughly 3% of the U.S. high school population.

Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)

AP World History: Modern students performed well across all units and thematic learning objectives. A few notable patterns stood out

• Students showed their strongest MCQ performance on questions focused on Units 3 and 4 — Land-Based Empires and Transoceanic Interconnections (1450–1750 CE). Students earning AP 3s typically answered at least 70% of these questions correctly, students earning AP 4s: ~85% right, and students earning AP 5s generally answered 100% of these questions correctly. These results indicate that AP World History students with scores of 3+ have developed solid understanding of the early modern period and the forces that shaped it.
• The most challenging MCQ content was for Units 7 and 8 — Global Conflict and the Cold War and Decolonization (1900–present). Nonetheless, students earning scores of 3+ were able to answer most or all of these questions correctly, while students receiving scores of 1 and 2 were not.

AP World History: Modern — Exam Design and Rigor

The AP World History: Modern Exam Development Committee — composed of university historians and experienced AP teachers — built a 2026 free-response section that I find genuinely impressive in its breadth and intellectual ambition. It’s also important to note that students do all of this writing within a fixed time limit in a proctored room on an AI-blocked platform.

Here's a link to this year's free-response questions: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap26-frq-world-history-modern.pdf

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s. 

Short Answer Questions (SAQs)

Each AP exam has multiple versions for different time zones. The commentary below focusses on the version taken by the majority of AP World History: Modern students:

SAQ 1, the Mansa Musa and Trans-Saharan Trade question, focused on a secondary source, asked students to identify historical causation (Mansa Musa’s motivations), deploy outside evidence to extend a scholarly claim, and explain the impacts of long-distance trade routes on particular societies – a robust and challenging task that primarily differentiated AP students achieving scores of 4 and 5, who could typically answer all parts of the question thoroughly, and students earning scores of 3, who did not typically earn all points possible on this question.

SAQ 2, which asked students to analyze a 1549 primary source (a letter by Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier written from India) and SAQ 3 (describing and explaining Indian Ocean trade networks) were each less challenging than SAQ 1, serving well to differentiate between students receiving AP scores of 2, who could usually answer one part of these questions correctly, and students receiving AP scores of 3+, who earned most or all points possible.

SAQ 4 (describing and explaining global trade from 1750-1914), was far and away the most challenging SAQ; in fact, it was the lowest-scoring of all the FRQs. Students receiving 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn any points on this question, which instead differentiated between performance at AP 3, 4, and 5 levels.

Document-Based Question (DBQ)

This question asked students to evaluate the extent to which twentieth-century military conflicts changed the role of women in society, by analyzing seven primary documents from China, the British Empire, Tsarist Russia, France, Mexico, Kenya, and the Soviet Union. The DBQ is always one of the most impressive tasks across all AP subjects, and this year’s was no exception, given the intellectual sophistication this question demanded — students had to hold multiple imperial and national contexts in view simultaneously and synthesize across them to write a compelling historical argument.

The DBQ serves well to differentiate students who qualify for college credit from those who don’t, as students receiving an AP 3+ score earned most of these points, whereas students earning 1s and 2s did not.

Crafting a historical claim / thesis: 86% of students earned the thesis point, a differentiator between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 consistently earned this point, whereas students receiving a 1 did not.

Use of evidence from the primary source documents: this skill also differentiated between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 were able to extract at least some historical evidence from the documents, whereas students receiving a 1 were not. Students receiving a 3 or higher typically earned full points for this skill.

Outside evidence and contextualization. These two historical thinking skills differentiated AP scores of 3 from AP scores of 4 and 5, as students achieving AP 4s and 5s were generally able 1) to summon and integrate outside evidence into this source-based essay, and 2) to situate their argument within a broader historical context. Students earning AP 3s demonstrated these skills less consistently than students earning AP 4s and 5s.

Sourcing. Similarly, students achieving AP 4s more consistently earned the sourcing point — requiring them to explain how the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience of two or more of the documents is relevant to their argument — than students earning AP 3s.

Complexity of analysis and reasoning. 22% of students earned the complex understanding point, the most demanding point on the DBQ, a differentiator between students achieving AP 5s, who are consistently earning this point, and students earning AP 4s, who are much less consistently earning this point within the intensity of timed, proctored essay writing.

Long Essay Question (LEQ)

Students choose one of three long essay prompts. Here’s a summary of their performance on each:

• LEQ 2, in which students evaluated the relationship between military conflicts and state building in Afro-Eurasia (1200–1600), proved more challenging for students than the other two LEQ topics. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible, but the overall difficulty of this essay was such that students receiving 1s did not earn any points on it.
• LEQ 3, in which students evaluated migrations from 1600-1900 and their relationship to social and cultural changes, was somewhat less difficult for students than LEQ 2, as students receiving 1s were typically able to earn several points related to their thesis or evidence they cited. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible.
• LEQ 4, in which students evaluated whether peacemaking efforts in the 20th century were successful, had the highest overall scores of any of the Long Essay topics. 34% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible.