AP Psychology

This article is about the AP test. For the IB test, see IB Psychology SL.

Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology (also known as AP Psych) and its corresponding exam are part of the College Board's Advanced Placement Program. This course is tailored for students interested in the field of psychology and as an opportunity to earn Advanced Placement credit or exemption from a college-level psychology course. It was the shortest AP exam until the AP Physics C exam was split into two separate exams in 2006.

AP Psychology is often considered one of the easier AP exams; relative to the other tests, the material is rather straightforward and much easier to self-study. Among all the social studies Advanced Placement exams, the Psych exam had the second-highest passing rate in 2018.^[1]

Topics covered

The College Board provides a course of study to help educators prepare their students for the AP Psychology exam. The exam covers the following 5 areas. The percentage indicates the portion of the multiple-choice section of the exam focused on each content area:^[2]

Topic	Percent
Biological Bases of Behavior	15-25%
Cognition	15-25%
Development and Learning	15-25%
Social Psychology and Personality	15-25%
Mental and Physical Health	15-25%

Exam

Free response section booklet

The exam includes two sections: a 90-minute multiple choice section (75 questions) and a 70-minute free response section (2 prompts). The multiple choice provides two-thirds of the grade and the free-response provides the remaining third. Additionally, the free response questions consist of one AAQ (Article Analysis Question) and one EBQ (Evidence Based Question).^[3]

Beginning with the May 2011 AP Exam administration, total scores on the multiple-choice section are based only on the number of questions answered correctly.^[4] Points are no longer deducted for incorrect answers. Grading (the number of points needed to get a certain score) is slightly more strict as a result.

In 2025, the AP Psychology exam went digital.^[5]

Grade distribution

The exam was first held in 1992. Grade distributions for the Psychology exam scores since 2010 were:

Score	2010[6]	2011[7]	2012[8]	2013[9]	2014[10]	2015[11]	2016[12]	2017[13]	2018[14]	2019[15]	2020[16]	2021[17]	2022[18]	2023[19]	2024[20]
5	19.6%	20.1%	20.7%	21.2%	18.7%	20.2%	19.1%	19.1%	21.1%	20.2%	22.4%	14.1%	17.0%	16.9%	18%
4	26.6%	26.3%	26.0%	26.6%	26.9%	26.2%	26.1%	25.1%	26.3%	25.4%	25.4 %	21.2%	22.2%	23.2%	23%
3	20.0%	19.8%	19.4%	19.5%	19.9%	19.8%	19.1%	20.0%	18.3%	18.8%	23.5 %	18.0%	19.1%	19.5%	20%
2	12.7%	12.9%	13.5%	13.0%	13.5%	13.1%	14.2%	14.6%	14.5%	13.7%	9.6 %	15.2%	13.1%	12.4%	12%
1	21.1%	20.9%	20.3%	19.7%	20.9%	20.7%	21.6%	21.2%	19.8%	22.0%	19.1 %	31.5%	28.5%	28.0%	27%
% of Scores 3 or higher	66.2%	66.2%	66.1%	67.3%	65.5%	66.2%	64.2%	64.2%	65.7%	64.4%	71.3%	53.3%	58.3%	59.6%	61%
Mean	3.11	3.12	3.13	3.17	3.09	3.12	3.07	3.06	3.14	3.08	3.22	2.71	2.86	2.89	2.93
Standard Deviation	1.42	1.42	1.42	1.42	1.41	1.42	1.42	1.42	1.42	1.44	1.40	1.45	1.47	1.46	1.46
Number of Students	177,708	197,719	220,361	238,962	259,789	276,971	293,350	302,369	311,759	311,215	295,621	288,511	292,501	321,329

Controversies

In August 2023, the Florida Department of Education ruled that AP Psychology was in violation of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act due to content on sexual orientation and gender identity in the course, effectively banning such content of the course the state of Florida.^[21] The department told school officials that the course may only be taught if material on sexual orientation and gender identity was removed from the curriculum. College Board responded that if such topics were removed, the class would not be compliant with college requirements, and thus not be eligible for Advanced Placement.^[22] The ban came amidst a broader backlash against the teaching of LGBTQ+ topics in the United States.^[23]

On May 16, 2025, during the final session of the 2025 AP exam administration, some students were unable to log into the College Board’s Bluebook testing application. The issue led to the extension of the exam start time to 2 p.m. local time for schools with flexible schedules. Affected students were offered make-up testing, available at no cost.^[24]