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2011 AP Exam Score Distributions

Total Registration will once again compile the AP exam score distributions as the College Board releases them beginning in June. In the meantime, we encourage you to check out the distributions from the previous years.

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AP Score Distributions 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.