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2011 AP Exam Score Distributions

Total Registration has compiled the following scores from Tweets that the College Board's head of AP*, Trevor Packer, has been making during June. These are preliminary breakdowns that may change slightly as late exams are scored.

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AP Score Distributions 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

This table is sortable by clicking on the header - Clicking on an Exam Name will show a comparison of the score distributions for all years compiled

Exam 5 4 3 2 1 3+ Date Tweeted Trevor's Comments
2-D Art and Design 12.0% 25.7% 34.6% 23.7% 4.0% 72.3% Jun 23
  • AP Studio Art performance this year: slightly stronger in 2D, slightly weaker in 3D and Drawing.
3-D Art and Design 9.5% 17.8% 33.5% 32.1% 7.1% 60.8% Jun 23

AP Studio Art performance this year: slightly stronger in 2D, slightly weaker in 3D and Drawing.
Art History 12.2% 21.8% 26.5% 19.0% 20.5% 60.5% Jun 16
  • This year's AP Art History students performed very similarly to last year's group.
Biology 18.5% 16.5% 15.2% 14.7% 35.1% 50.2% Jun 20
  • Significant improvements in student learning in AP Biology this year--more 4s, fewer 1s.
  • AP Biology students did well on question 3 re: reproduction. Trying not to assume this is due to student fascination with the topic...
Calculus AB 21.0% 16.3% 18.5% 10.8% 33.4% 55.8% Jun 20
  • More than 1/2 the Calc AB students got 0 points on question 5, indicating a need for attn to differential equations w/in contextual problems
Calculus BC 47.0% 16.3% 17.2% 5.9% 13.6% 80.5% Jun 20
  • AP Calculus AB performance is very similar to last year; BC performance is slightly worse. I'll post the score distributions momentarily.
Chemistry 16.2% 18.5% 19.6% 14.8% 30.9% 54.3% Jun 21
  • Fewer 1s, fewer 5s, more 2s .Many AP Chemistry students performed best on Q4 (Reactions/Equations) and least well on Q3 (Hydrogen Fuel Cell).
Chinese Lang. and Culture 73.2% 13.5% 8.8% 2.1% 2.4% 95.5% Jun 22
  • Standard Group (non-heritage speakers) score distributions for AP Chinese: 33.3% = 5; 20.0% = 4; 25.7% = 3; 8.5% = 2; 12.5% = 1.
Computer Science A 24.8% 25.0% 14.2% 8.0% 28.0% 64% Jun 17
  • Areas where AP Computer Science students struggle: confusion between arrays and ArrayLists; working with 2D arrays; string processing.
  • AP Comp Sci question 4 is proving a real challenge for students, w/Readers saying it's generating good evidence of critical thinking skills.
Drawing 12.7% 17.5% 41.7% 23.0% 5.1% 71.9% Jun 23
  • AP Studio Art performance this year: slightly stronger in 2D, slightly weaker in 3D and Drawing.
English Language 11.1% 20.0% 30.1% 27.5% 11.3% 61.2% Jun 21
  • AP English teachers are preserving quality while expanding access: student performance this year is very similar to last year.
English Literature 8.4% 17.8% 30.9% 32.1% 10.8% 57.1% Jun 21
  • Scores were lowest on the poetry essay, suggesting a need for more focus on how literary devices are used to convey meaning.
Environmental Science 8.7% 24.8% 15.6% 25.0% 25.9% 49.1% Jun 20
  • Many AP Env Science students performed very well on the "arable land" question (#4), but poorly on the "energy use & GDP" question (#3).
European History 10.7% 18.8% 35.5% 11.5% 23.5% 65% Jun 17
  • All three AP history programs have maintained score levels of last year--impressive given the increased access teachers are providing.
French Language 12.4% 15.8% 29.1% 20.9% 21.8% 57.3% Jun 24
  • Stronger student performance on AP French Exam this year.
  • Advice from AP French Chief Reader: work on presentational speaking, since it will be even more important in the redesigned exam next year.
German Language 23.2% 19.9% 23.7% 19.8% 13.4% 66.8% Jun 24
  • Slightly weaker student performance on AP German
Government and Politics, Comp. 17.3% 21.7% 20.3% 21.6% 19.1% 59.3% Jun 21
  • AP Comp Gov/Pol students struggled with basic, core concepts like UK judicial systems and Nigerian federalism in the free-response section.
Government and Politics, US 12.6% 14.0% 25.1% 24.3% 24.0% 51.7% Jun 16
  • US Gov&Pol and Spanish Lit teachers have preserved scores very similar to last year, despite now serving approx. 20,000 more students.
Human Geography 11.7% 18.1% 21.3% 17.5% 31.4% 51.1% Jun 16
  • Congrats to AP Human Geo teachers: significant improvements in scores over last year, despite students' struggles w/essay question #1.
  • While AP Human Geo students performed well on essays 2&3, they did less well on essay 1 (urban geography); perhaps teachers ran out of time?
Japanese Lang. and Culture 43.3% 11.7% 21.6% 7.3% 16.1% 76.6% Jun 22
Latin 20.2% 18.1% 25.5% 18.3% 17.9% 63.8% Jun 17
Macroeconomics 12.1% 23.6% 16.8% 18.7% 28.8% 52.5% Jun 17
Microeconomics 14.6% 25.9% 21.6% 16.0% 21.9% 62.1% Jun 17
  • AP Microeconomics students really struggled with free-response question 3 on negative externality. Half the students earned zero pts on it.
Music Theory 17.4% 17.5% 24.3% 26.9% 13.9% 59.2% Jun 21
  • AP Music Theory students performed best on melodic harmonization, and weakest on sight-singing. (Can you imagine scoring that section?)
Physics B 15.0% 19.1% 26.3% 17.7% 21.9% 60.4% Jun 16
  • Solid improvement this year in AP Physics B scores
Physics C E&M 32.0% 24.5% 14.0% 17.7% 11.8% 70.5% Jun 16
  • Physics C scores are similar to student performance in 2010.
Physics C Mech. 26.5% 24.2% 22.3% 14.2% 12.9% 73% Jun 16
  • Physics C scores are similar to student performance in 2010.
Psychology 20.2% 26.3% 19.8% 12.9% 20.8% 66.3% Jun 20
  • Many AP Psychology students struggled with concepts of statistical significance & random assignment in question 1, so the AP Psychology Chief Reader advises more emphasis on research design & statistics.
Spanish Language 22.2% 25.8% 21.3% 16.1% 14.6% 69.3% Jun 24
Spanish Literature 11.6% 20.7% 29.0% 16.0% 22.7% 61.3% Jun 16
  • US Gov&Pol and Spanish Lit teachers have preserved scores very similar to last year, despite now serving approx. 20,000 more students.
Statistics 12.1% 21.3% 25.1% 17.7% 23.8% 58.5% Jun 22
  • Slightly lower student performance on AP Statistics
United States History 11.0% 20.8% 21.0% 26.7% 20.5% 52.8% Jun 17
  • All three AP history programs have maintained score levels of last year--impressive given the increased access teachers are providing.
World History 9.4% 16.0% 23.1% 25.7% 25.8% 48.5% Jun 17
  • All three AP history programs have maintained score levels of last year--impressive given the increased access teachers are providing.