2024-07-262024-09-12
by in AP, Testing Service Updates
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The AP Program is accelerating the transition to digital testing to ensure the continued security of AP Exams.

The College Board has been introducing a digital exam format starting with the International SAT in the spring of 2023. Starting with the May 2023 AP exams, digital exams for some subjects were partially implemented in certain regions within the United States.

Starting in May 2025, standard paper testing will be discontinued for 28 AP Exams—these exams will move to the Bluebook digital testing application.

  • Students will take digital exams in the Bluebook app. AP coordinators and proctors will administer digital exams using the Test Day Toolkit web application.
  • Paper exams in these subjects will only be available to students approved by the College Board to receive a paper exam for digital assessments.
  • For math, science, and economics exams that require graphing or symbolic notation, students will view free-response questions and prompts in Bluebook and write their answers in paper exam booklets.
  • All schools, including schools and test centers outside of the United States, must administer these 28 AP Exams digitally.
  • Late-testing exams in these subjects, if offered by the school, are also in digital format.

If you have taken the digital SAT exam, you may already be familiar with the Bluebook application. The digital AP exams in 2025 will also be administered using this Bluebook application.

However, it is important to note that the digital AP exams cannot be taken at home. You will still need to attend your registered school or test center to take the digital AP exams, same as the traditional paper-based AP exams.

 

Digital AP Exam Subjects

Of the 28 digital exams in 2025, 16 will be fully digital and 12 will be hybrid digital.

Fully Digital Subjects

Students complete multiple-choice and free-response questions in Bluebook, with all responses automatically submitted at the end of the exam.

  • AP African American Studies (U.S. schools only)
  • AP Art History
  • AP Comparative Government and Politics
  • AP Computer Science A
  • AP Computer Science Principles
  • AP English Language and Composition
  • AP English Literature and Composition
  • AP Environmental Science
  • AP European History
  • AP Human Geography
  • AP Latin
  • AP Psychology
  • AP Seminar
  • AP United States Government and Politics
  • AP United States History
  • AP World History: Modern

Hybrid Digital Subjects

Students complete multiple-choice questions and view free-response questions in Bluebook. They handwrite their free-response answers in paper exam booklets that are returned for scoring.

  • AP Biology
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Calculus BC
  • AP Chemistry
  • AP Macroeconomics
  • AP Microeconomics
  • AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based
  • AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based
  • AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
  • AP Physics C: Mechanics
  • AP Precalculus
  • AP Statistics

Unchanged Subjects

The AP Exam administration for exams with audio components and exams consisting solely of portfolio assessments is remaining unchanged for the May 2025 AP Exam administration.

Paper-Based Exams with Audio Components:

  • AP French Language and Culture
  • AP German Language and Culture
  • AP Italian Language and Culture
  • AP Music Theory
  • AP Spanish Language and Culture
  • AP Spanish Literature and Culture

Computer-Based Exams with Audio Components:
(For these exams, students will use the device owned by the school or test center)

  • AP Chinese Language and Culture
  • AP Japanese Language and Culture

Subjects consisting solely of portfolio assessments (No end-of-course exams):

  • AP 2-D Art and Design
  • AP 3-D Art and Design
  • AP Drawing
  • AP Research

 

Students preparing for the 2025 AP exams are advised to check the format of the exams for their intended AP subjects before studying.

For more detailed information regarding the digital AP exams that have been announced so far, please refer to the College Board’s 2025 Digital AP Exam news.

Key information regarding the digital AP exams to be administered by the Fulbright AP Testing Center in May 2025 will be published on the Fulbright AP Exam guidance page in the second half of 2024.