AP UNITED STATES HISTORYThe Exam

Exam Overview

The AP U.S. History Exam measures students' knowledge of U.S. history and their ability to think historically. Questions are based on key and supporting concepts, course themes, and the disciplinary practices and reasoning skills outlined in the course and exam description.

The 2018 AP history rubrics will be available in early August 2017.

Encourage your students to visit the AP United States History student page for exam information and exam practice.

Exam Format

Section I: Part A

Multiple Choice—55 Questions | 55 Minutes | 40% of Exam Score

• Questions appear in sets of 2 to 5.
• Students analyze historical texts, interpretations, and evidence.
• Primary and secondary sources, images, graphs, and maps are included.

Section I: Part B

Short Answer—3 Questions | 40 Minutes | 20% of Exam Score

• Analyze historians' interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.
• Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best.
• Some questions include texts, images, graphs, or maps.
• Update for 2017-18: The number of required short-answer questions has been reduced to three, and the time allotted has been decreased to 40 minutes. Students will be choose between two options for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time period.
  • Question 1 (required): periods 3-8
  • Question 2 (required): periods 3-8
  • Students choose between Question 3, periods 1-5, and Question 4, periods 6-9

Section II: Part A

Document Based—1 Question | 60 Minutes (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score

• Assess written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence.
• Develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
• Update for 2017-18: Five minutes have been added to the time allotted for the document-based question, which will now focus on topics from periods 3 to 8.

Section II: Part B

Long Essay—1 Question | 40 Minutes | 15% of Exam Score

• Explain and analyze significant issues in U.S. history.
• Develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
• Updates for 2017-18: Five minutes have been added to the time allotted for the long essay. The question choices will continue to focus on the same theme and skill but will now allow students to select among three options, each focusing on a different range of time periods:
  • Option 1: periods 1-3
  • Option 2: periods 4-6
  • Option 3: periods 7-9

Exam Questions and Scoring Information

For free-response questions from prior exams, along with scoring information, check out the tables below. Please note that these questions do not reflect the format of the 2018 exam, as they date from the 2015 to 2017 exam administrations. Similar resources for the 2018 exam will be available after the exam administration in May 2018.

Past exam questions from the May 2014 administrations and before are also available. Note that these questions do not reflect the content, scope, or design specifications of the initial redesigned AP U.S. History Exam.

Be sure to review the Student Performance Q&A. In this invaluable resource, the Chief Reader of the AP Exam compiles feedback from members of the reading leadership to describe how students performed on the FRQs, summarize typical student errors, and address specific concepts and content with which students have struggled the most that year.

Exam Resources