The Exam

AP World History: Modern

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Exam Overview

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 (CED).

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

Rubrics Updated for 2023-24

We’ve updated the AP World History: Modern document-based question (DBQ) and long essay question (LEQ) rubrics for the 2023-24 school year.

This change only affects the DBQ and LEQ scoring, with no change to the course or the exam: the exam format, course framework, and skills assessed on the exam all remain unchanged.

The course and exam description (CED) has been updated to include: 

  • Revised rubrics (general scoring criteria) for the DBQ and LEQ.
  • Revised scoring guidelines for the sample DBQ and LEQ within the CED.

Exam Date

Wed, May 15, 2024

8 AM Local

AP World History: Modern Exam

Exam Format

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 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.
  • Students choose between 2 options for the final required short-answer question, each one focusing on a different time period:
    • Question 1 is required, includes 1 secondary source, 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.
    • Students choose between Question 3 (which focuses on historical developments or between the years 1200 and 1750) and Question 4 (which focuses on historical developments or processes between the years 1750 and 2001) for the last question. No sources are included for either Question 3 or Question 4.

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 1450 to 2001.

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

  • Students explain and analyze significant issues in world history.
  • Students develop an argument supported by an analysis of historical evidence.
  • The question choices focus on the same skills and the same reasoning process (e.g., comparison, causation, or continuity and change), but students choose from 3 options, each focusing primarily on historical developments and processes in different time periods—either 1200–1750 (option 1), 1450–1900 (option 2), or 1750–2001 (option 3).

Past Exam Questions and Scoring Information

Score Reporting