AP World History: Modern

This is a fully digital exam. Students complete multiple-choice and free-response questions in the Bluebook testing app, with all responses automatically submitted at the end of the exam. 

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP World History: Modern Course and Exam Description (.pdf) (CED).

Encourage your students to visit the AP World History: Modern student page for exam information.

The AP World History: Modern Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Section I, Part A: Multiple Choice

55 Questions | 55 Minutes | 40% of Exam Score

• Questions usually appear in sets of 3–4 questions.
• 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

• Students are presented with 3 short-answer questions and are required to answer all 3 questions.
• Short-answer question 1 includes a secondary text source, short-answer question 2 includes a primary text source, and short-answer question 3 includes a primary or secondary non-text source.
• The 3 questions cover historical developments and processes between the years of 1200 and 2001, and each of the questions focuses on a different historical period.
• Students analyze historians’ interpretations, historical sources, and propositions about history.
• Questions provide opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know best.

Section II: Document-Based Question and Long Essay

2 questions | 1 Hour, 40 minutes | 40% of Exam Score

Document-Based Question (DBQ)
Recommended time: 1 Hour (includes 15-minute reading period) | 25% of Exam Score

• Students are presented with 7 documents offering various perspectives on a historical development or process.
• Students assess these written, quantitative, or visual materials as historical evidence.
• Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
• The document-based question focuses on topics from 1200 to 2001.

Long Essay
Recommended time: 40 Minutes | 15% of Exam Score

• The long essay question is required and presents a broad prompt, allowing students to draw evidence from across approximately half of the time periods covered in the course. Students may choose to focus on 1 (or more) historical development(s) referenced in the prompt. Students are not expected to address the entire time period in their response.
• Students explain and analyze significant issues in world history.
• Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.