peyton🪻

The 2026 AP World History: Modern Exam scores: 5: 14%; 4: 36%; 3: 16%; 2: 26%; 1: 8% The 2026 AP World History: Modern exam was taken by ~443,000 students, roughly 3% of the U.S. high school population. AP World History: Modern — Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) AP World History: Modern students performed well across all units and thematic learning objectives. A few notable patterns stood out: • Students showed their strongest MCQ performance on questions focused on Units 3 and 4 — Land-Based Empires and Transoceanic Interconnections (1450–1750 CE). Students earning AP 3s typically answered at least 70% of these questions correctly, students earning AP 4s: ~85% right, and students earning AP 5s generally answered 100% of these questions correctly. These results indicate that AP World History students with scores of 3+ have developed solid understanding of the early modern period and the forces that shaped it. • The most challenging MCQ content was for Units 7 and 8 — Global Conflict and the Cold War and Decolonization (1900–present). Nonetheless, students earning scores of 3+ were able to answer most or all of these questions correctly, while students receiving scores of 1 and 2 were not. AP World History: Modern — Exam Design and Rigor The AP World History: Modern Exam Development Committee — composed of university historians and experienced AP teachers — built a 2026 free-response section that I find genuinely impressive in its breadth and intellectual ambition. It’s also important to note that students do all of this writing within a fixed time limit in a proctored room on an AI-blocked platform. Here's a link to this year's free-response questions: https://t.co/WCZZEgvao2 Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s. AP World History: Modern — Short Answer Questions (SAQs) Each AP exam has multiple versions for different time zones. The commentary below focusses on the version taken by the majority of AP World History: Modern students: SAQ 1, the Mansa Musa and Trans-Saharan Trade question, focused on a secondary source, asked students to identify historical causation (Mansa Musa’s motivations), deploy outside evidence to extend a scholarly claim, and explain the impacts of long-distance trade routes on particular societies – a robust and challenging task that primarily differentiated AP students achieving scores of 4 and 5, who could typically answer all parts of the question thoroughly, and students earning scores of 3, who did not typically earn all points possible on this question. SAQ 2, which asked students to analyze a 1549 primary source (a letter by Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier written from India) and SAQ 3 (describing and explaining Indian Ocean trade networks) were each less challenging than SAQ 1, serving well to differentiate between students receiving AP scores of 2, who could usually answer one part of these questions correctly, and students receiving AP scores of 3+, who earned most or all points possible. SAQ 4 (describing and explaining global trade from 1750-1914), was far and away the most challenging SAQ; in fact, it was the lowest-scoring of all the FRQs. Students receiving 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn any points on this question, which instead differentiated between performance at AP 3, 4, and 5 levels. AP World History: Modern — Document-Based Question (DBQ) This question asked students to evaluate the extent to which twentieth-century military conflicts changed the role of women in society, by analyzing seven primary documents from China, the British Empire, Tsarist Russia, France, Mexico, Kenya, and the Soviet Union. The DBQ is always one of the most impressive tasks across all AP subjects, and this year’s was no exception, given the intellectual sophistication this question demanded — students had to hold multiple imperial and national contexts in view simultaneously and synthesize across them to write a compelling historical argument. The DBQ serves well to differentiate students who qualify for college credit from those who don’t, as students receiving an AP 3+ score earned most of these points, whereas students earning 1s and 2s did not. Crafting a historical claim / thesis: 86% of students earned the thesis point, a differentiator between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 consistently earned this point, whereas students receiving a 1 did not. Use of evidence from the primary source documents: this skill also differentiated between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 were able to extract at least some historical evidence from the documents, whereas students receiving a 1 were not. Students receiving a 3 or higher typically earned full points for this skill. Outside evidence and contextualization. These two historical thinking skills differentiated AP scores of 3 from AP scores of 4 and 5, as students achieving AP 4s and 5s were generally able 1) to summon and integrate outside evidence into this source-based essay, and 2) to situate their argument within a broader historical context. Students earning AP 3s demonstrated these skills less consistently than students earning AP 4s and 5s. Sourcing. Similarly, students achieving AP 4s more consistently earned the sourcing point — requiring them to explain how the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience of two or more of the documents is relevant to their argument — than students earning AP 3s. Complexity of analysis and reasoning. 22% of students earned the complex understanding point, the most demanding point on the DBQ, a differentiator between students achieving AP 5s, who are consistently earning this point, and students earning AP 4s, who are much less consistently earning this point within the intensity of timed, proctored essay writing. AP World History: Modern — Long Essay Question (LEQ) Students choose one of three long essay prompts. Here’s a summary of their performance on each: • LEQ 2, in which students evaluated the relationship between military conflicts and state building in Afro-Eurasia (1200–1600), proved more challenging for students than the other two LEQ topics. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible, but the overall difficulty of this essay was such that students receiving 1s did not earn any points on it. • LEQ 3, in which students evaluated migrations from 1600-1900 and their relationship to social and cultural changes, was somewhat less difficult for students than LEQ 2, as students receiving 1s were typically able to earn several points related to their thesis or evidence they cited. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible. • LEQ 4, in which students evaluated whether peacemaking efforts in the 20th century were successful, had the highest overall scores of any of the Long Essay topics. 34% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible. All subjects’ AP score distributions for 2026 will be posted here when available: https://t.co/OrkaQhPZYO.

AP_Trevor's tweet photo. The 2026 AP World History: Modern Exam scores:
5: 14%; 4: 36%; 3: 16%; 2: 26%; 1: 8%

The 2026 AP World History: Modern exam was taken by ~443,000 students, roughly 3% of the U.S. high school population.

AP World History: Modern — Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)

AP World History: Modern students performed well across all units and thematic learning objectives. A few notable patterns stood out:

• Students showed their strongest MCQ performance on questions focused on Units 3 and 4 — Land-Based Empires and Transoceanic Interconnections (1450–1750 CE). Students earning AP 3s typically answered at least 70% of these questions correctly, students earning AP 4s: ~85% right, and students earning AP 5s generally answered 100% of these questions correctly. These results indicate that AP World History students with scores of 3+ have developed solid understanding of the early modern period and the forces that shaped it.

• The most challenging MCQ content was for Units 7 and 8 — Global Conflict and the Cold War and Decolonization (1900–present). Nonetheless, students earning scores of 3+ were able to answer most or all of these questions correctly, while students receiving scores of 1 and 2 were not.

AP World History: Modern — Exam Design and Rigor

The AP World History: Modern Exam Development Committee — composed of university historians and experienced AP teachers — built a 2026 free-response section that I find genuinely impressive in its breadth and intellectual ambition. It’s also important to note that students do all of this writing within a fixed time limit in a proctored room on an AI-blocked platform.

Here's a link to this year's free-response questions:
https://t.co/WCZZEgvao2

Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s.

AP World History: Modern — Short Answer Questions (SAQs)

Each AP exam has multiple versions for different time zones. The commentary below focusses on the version taken by the majority of AP World History: Modern students:

SAQ 1, the Mansa Musa and Trans-Saharan Trade question, focused on a secondary source, asked students to identify historical causation (Mansa Musa’s motivations), deploy outside evidence to extend a scholarly claim, and explain the impacts of long-distance trade routes on particular societies – a robust and challenging task that primarily differentiated AP students achieving scores of 4 and 5, who could typically answer all parts of the question thoroughly, and students earning scores of 3, who did not typically earn all points possible on this question.

SAQ 2, which asked students to analyze a 1549 primary source (a letter by Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier written from India) and SAQ 3 (describing and explaining Indian Ocean trade networks) were each less challenging than SAQ 1, serving well to differentiate between students receiving AP scores of 2, who could usually answer one part of these questions correctly, and students receiving AP scores of 3+, who earned most or all points possible.

SAQ 4 (describing and explaining global trade from 1750-1914), was far and away the most challenging SAQ; in fact, it was the lowest-scoring of all the FRQs. Students receiving 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn any points on this question, which instead differentiated between performance at AP 3, 4, and 5 levels.

AP World History: Modern — Document-Based Question (DBQ)

This question asked students to evaluate the extent to which twentieth-century military conflicts changed the role of women in society, by analyzing seven primary documents from China, the British Empire, Tsarist Russia, France, Mexico, Kenya, and the Soviet Union. The DBQ is always one of the most impressive tasks across all AP subjects, and this year’s was no exception, given the intellectual sophistication this question demanded — students had to hold multiple imperial and national contexts in view simultaneously and synthesize across them to write a compelling historical argument.

The DBQ serves well to differentiate students who qualify for college credit from those who don’t, as students receiving an AP 3+ score earned most of these points, whereas students earning 1s and 2s did not.

Crafting a historical claim / thesis: 86% of students earned the thesis point, a differentiator between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 consistently earned this point, whereas students receiving a 1 did not.

Use of evidence from the primary source documents: this skill also differentiated between AP scores of 1 and 2, as students receiving a 2 were able to extract at least some historical evidence from the documents, whereas students receiving a 1 were not. Students receiving a 3 or higher typically earned full points for this skill.

Outside evidence and contextualization. These two historical thinking skills differentiated AP scores of 3 from AP scores of 4 and 5, as students achieving AP 4s and 5s were generally able 1) to summon and integrate outside evidence into this source-based essay, and 2) to situate their argument within a broader historical context. Students earning AP 3s demonstrated these skills less consistently than students earning AP 4s and 5s.

Sourcing. Similarly, students achieving AP 4s more consistently earned the sourcing point — requiring them to explain how the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or audience of two or more of the documents is relevant to their argument — than students earning AP 3s.

Complexity of analysis and reasoning. 22% of students earned the complex understanding point, the most demanding point on the DBQ, a differentiator between students achieving AP 5s, who are consistently earning this point, and students earning AP 4s, who are much less consistently earning this point within the intensity of timed, proctored essay writing.

AP World History: Modern — Long Essay Question (LEQ)

Students choose one of three long essay prompts. Here’s a summary of their performance on each:

• LEQ 2, in which students evaluated the relationship between military conflicts and state building in Afro-Eurasia (1200–1600), proved more challenging for students than the other two LEQ topics. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible, but the overall difficulty of this essay was such that students receiving 1s did not earn any points on it.

• LEQ 3, in which students evaluated migrations from 1600-1900 and their relationship to social and cultural changes, was somewhat less difficult for students than LEQ 2, as students receiving 1s were typically able to earn several points related to their thesis or evidence they cited. 25% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible.

• LEQ 4, in which students evaluated whether peacemaking efforts in the 20th century were successful, had the highest overall scores of any of the Long Essay topics. 34% of students achieved all or all but one of the total points possible.

All subjects’ AP score distributions for 2026 will be posted here when available: https://t.co/OrkaQhPZYO.

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peyton🪻 @yipityyapitydo

2 months ago

for sure got a 1 dont even joke

Trevor Packer

@AP_Trevor

2 months ago

The 2026 AP Chemistry Exam scores: 5: 15%; 4: 31%; 3: 30%; 2: 18%; 1: 6% In 2026, ~185,000 AP students took the AP Chemistry Exam — roughly 1% of the U.S. high school population. AP Chemistry Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) • Students performed especially well on questions covering Unit 1: Atomic Structure and Properties (70% of students earned most of the points available on such questions), Unit 4: Chemical Reactions (74% of students earned most of these points), and Unit 9: Thermodynamics and Electrochemistry (72% earned most of these points). • The most challenging MCQ content area was Unit 7: Equilibrium, a unit that requires students to write equilibrium expressions, calculate equilibrium quantities, predict shifts using Le Chatelier's Principle, and relate Ksp to ion concentrations in solubility problems. 34% of students answered most of these questions correctly. Almost as challenging were the questions related to Unit 6: Thermochemistry; 49% of students got most of these right. AP Chemistry Free-Response Questions (FRQ) Each AP exam has multiple versions, for different time zones. I'll focus the commentary below on the version taken by most students: https://t.co/9ABpo6mn4z Since AP scores are reported on a 5-point scale, the free-response questions deliberately include some very difficult points, designed to differentiate AP 5s from AP 4s, points of varying difficulty to differentiate AP 4s, 3s, and 2s, and more foundational points to separate AP 2s from AP 1s. FRQ #1, the KCl Calorimetry and Solubility question (10 points), is a multi-part investigation anchored in dissolution thermochemistry, and it was the most difficult of the long questions on this year’s exam, serving to differentiate among exams scoring AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving AP 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn many of these points. The breadth of knowledge and skills demanded here, from conceptual reasoning about atomic structure to multi-step calorimetric calculations to qualitative equilibrium analysis, is a great representation of rigorous, college-level lab chemistry. • Part B (describing how to identify when dissolution ends) was a key differentiator between AP 3s and AP 2s, as AP 3s were consistently able to earn this point, whereas AP 2s were not. • Part D (applying error analysis to justify a directional claim about the calculated enthalpy) was the most challenging part of this question, typically achieved only by students receiving AP 5s. FRQ #2, the Chromium Species question (10 points), asked students to work through various concepts, from Lewis structures to electrochemical stoichiometry using Faraday's laws, and first-order reaction kinetics. The final part required students to draw a natural log of concentration versus time graph to demonstrate their understanding of how changing reactant concentration shifts a kinetics curve. Almost as challenging as FRQ 1, this question also served to differentiate among students scoring AP 3s, 4s, and 5s, as students receiving scores of AP 1s and 2s were generally unable to earn many of these points. • Part E (using data specifically from the concentration versus time graph to support that the reaction is first order) was the most challenging point on Q2, and it differentiated between students receiving an AP 5 and those earning an AP 4, who were not usually able to earn this point. • Part B(i) (writing a balanced net ionic equation for the reaction between chromate and a strong acid) was almost as challenging, also often making the difference between whether a student received a 4 or a 5. FRQ #3, the Nitrous Acid question (10 points), was somewhat less challenging than the two other long questions, serving also to differentiate between scores of AP 2 and 3. Across this FRQ, students were asked to demonstrate a range of college-level chemistry knowledge and skills, from identifying conjugate acid-base pairs to calculating various weak acid equilibrium quantities to analyzing the results of a titration experiment. • Part D (using the titration curve to determine the pH at the equivalence point) was an important distinguishing point for students earning AP 3s, requiring a fundamental understanding of the stoichiometric endpoint; students receiving AP 2s were not typically able to earn this point. • Part G (calculating the K value for the neutralization reaction) was the most difficult point on this question, usually only earned by students achieving AP 4s and 5s. FRQ #4, the P4 and P2 Equilibrium question, spans molecular structure reasoning all the way to thermodynamic argumentation — in just four points. • The second point of Part B (calculating Kp from partial pressures) was earned by most students, but was not typically attained by students receiving 1s and 2s. • Part C (justifying whether the reaction was endothermic based on thermodynamic principles) was the most challenging part of this question, typically performed accurately by students receiving 4s and 5s. FRQ #5, the CBrClF2 Molecular Structure question (4 points) was challenging, distinguishing between scores of AP 4 and 5, as students receiving other scores were not usually able to earn many of these points. This question weaves together VSEPR theory, electronegativity, and intermolecular force reasoning — three important and interconnected concepts in first-semester college chemistry. • Part B (explaining bond angle differences via electron cloud size and repulsion) was the most challenging point, generally only earned by the students receiving AP 5s. FRQ #6, the Vanadium(II) Spectrophotometry question (4 points), was a moderately challenging question, and helped to distinguish among students within the score range of AP 3, 4, and 5, as students with lower scores generally could not engage with this level of difficulty. This question was anchored in an authentic laboratory context: students had to draw a particle diagram to represent the dilution of a V2+ solution; apply Beer's Law to calculate molar absorptivity from a standard curve; use molar absorptivity to find the concentration of an unknown solution; and assess the effect of a volumetric error on the calculated molarity — correctly determining the direction of the error and supporting the claim with a valid justification. • Part A (drawing a particle model consistent with dilution by a factor of 2) is an effective differentiator between students achieving AP scores of 2, which could not earn this point, and scores of 3, which could. FRQ #7, the Na2O Enthalpy question (4 points), was another challenging one. Students had to apply Hess's Law to calculate ΔH°; identify the limiting reactant from reactant masses; calculate the energy released from that amount of limiting reactant; and explain why Na2O has weaker lattice energy than Rb2O by connecting the separation between ions to Coulombic force. • Part C (requiring students to invoke the relationship between ionic separation and lattice energy using Coulomb's law reasoning) was earned by 17% of students, typically only achieved by students receiving an AP 5. All subjects' AP score distributions for 2026 will be posted here when available: https://t.co/OrkaQhPZYO