AP World Languages and Cultures

Administering the Exams

Beginning with the 2027 AP Exam administration, AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish Language and Culture, and AP Spanish Literature and Culture will be administered in Bluebook as fully digital AP Exams. 

Please note, there are differences between the AP world language and culture courses and exams (AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish Language and Culture) and the AP Spanish Literature and Culture administrations. 

For example, the AP world language and culture courses and exams were revised for 2026-27, and in addition, now include a course project and require a Personalized Project Reference (PPR) to be submitted. AP Spanish Literature and Culture does not. 

What’s Changed

New: AP World Language and Culture Course Project

• Students complete a project ahead of exam day to prepare for 2 speaking free-response questions on the exam: the Project Presentation and the Project Q&A.
• The Course Project Packet will be released in January through the AP Digital Portfolio with the information students need to complete the project.
• By April 30, students submit a Personalized Project Reference (PPR)—an outline of their presentation—through the AP Digital Portfolio.
• On exam day, students will receive a printed copy of their PPR for reference during the exam.

Fully Digital Testing Experience

• For the AP world language and culture exams, the free-response section now comes before the multiple-choice section. 
• For the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam, the sequence remains unchanged: multiple choice followed by free response.
• For all of these exams, responses to multiple-choice and free-response questions will be submitted automatically at the end of the exam through Bluebook.
• Paper exams, answer sheets, free-response booklets, CDs, CD players, the DAC app, and the DAS portal will no longer be used. 

Ordering

AP coordinators order these exams along with all other AP Exams in AP Registration and Ordering. For more information, go to Ordering and Fees.

AP Coordinator Role

The AP coordinator manages the following steps:

• At the beginning of the school year, create class sections in AP Registration and Ordering and students enroll in the sections. 
• Once enrolled, students can access AP Classroom. For the AP world language and culture exams, details about accessing the AP Digital Portfolio will be shared later in the school year.
• For the AP world language and culture exams, before exam day, download and print each student's submitted PPR from the AP Digital Portfolio and ensure proctors distribute them to the correct students before testing begins. (AP Spanish Literature and Culture does not have a PPR.) All other exam content and responses are handled entirely in Bluebook. 

Exam Only Sections

AP coordinators should create exam only sections for any high-school affiliated AP students who wish to take an exam but aren’t enrolled in a course at your school. Give them the appropriate join code and confirm these students have enrolled in the section.

Headsets

Students are required to use wired headsets:

• For the AP world language and culture exams, students need a wired headset with a microphone for both audio playback and spoken response recording.
• For the AP Spanish Literature and Culture Exam, a wired headset is required for audio playback; a microphone is not required.     

Wireless headsets are not permitted. Only school-owned headsets are allowed at international test centers. Detailed specifications are available on the Headsets for AP World Language and AP Music Theory Exams page.

AP coordinators are responsible for ensuring students have compliant wired headsets and microphones before testing begins.