Exam Overview:
The AP World History Exam is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and includes both a 95-minute multiple-choice and short-answer section (Section I) and a 100-minute free-response section (Section II). Each section is divided into two parts, as shown in the table below. Student performance on these four parts will be compiled and weighted to determine an AP Exam score.
Exam Components:
Section 1A: Multiple Choice
55 questions 55mins 40% of Score
Section 1B: Short Answer
3 questions 40mins 20% of Score
Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps.
Question 1 is required, includes 1 or 2 secondary sources, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1200 and 2001.
Question 2 is required, includes 1 primary source, and focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1200 and 2001.
You can choose between Question 3 (which focuses on the period from 1200 to 1750) and Question 4 (which focuses on the period from 1750 to 2001) for the last question. No sources are included for either Question 3 or Question 4.
Section 2: Free Response
2 questions 1hr 40mins 40% of Score
There are two questions: one document-based question and one long essay.
Document-Based Question
60 minutes | 25% of Score
The 60-minute time limit for this section includes a 15-minute reading period. You'll be presented with seven documents that give various perspectives on a historical development or process. You’ll be asked to develop and support an argument based on these documents and other evidence from your own knowledge. The topic of the document-based question will include historical developments or processes between the years 1450 and 2001.
Long Essay Question
40 minutes | 15% of Score
You'll have a choice of three questions; you’ll pick one to answer. Each tests the same skills but the questions focus on different historical time periods (either the period from c. 1200–1750, from c. 1450–1900, or from c. 1750–2001). You'll be asked to develop and support an argument based on evidence.
HOW DOES THE COLLEGE BOARD BREAK DOWN THE NEW AP WORLD COURSE? A: LIKE THIS:
The AP World History exam breaks down in the following ways. Notice there are 55 Multiple Choice Questions, 4 Short Answer Questions, a DBQ (Document Based Question), and a LEQ (Long Essay Question; which you will get to choose from 2 LEQs). This information is taken from https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-world-history-course-and-exam-description-1.pdf?course=ap-world-history-modern
Section I comes in two parts: MULTIPLE CHOICE (55 Questions in 55 minutes) & SHORT ANSWER (3 questions in 40 minutes). All together this counts for 60% of the AP World History exam. Below are links to pages for each part. CLICK THE BANNERS BELOW to go to a page devoted to each subsection:
Section II comes in two parts: the DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION (1 question in 60 minutes with a 15 minute reading period included) & LONG ESSAY QUESTION (1 question (chosen from 3 options). All together this counts for 40% of the AP World History exam. Below are links to pages for each part. CLICK THE BANNERS BELOW to go to a page devoted to each subsection:
