Here is the latest information on the 2020 AP Calculus Exams as of April 3, 2020. Updated 4/29/2020
Update: A message from the AP Program 4/28/2020
Subject: How to Prepare Your Students for the 2020 AP Exams
Dear Colleagues,
Additional information is now available to help guide you and your students through the exam day experience.
New Resources
2020 AP Testing Guide (.pdf/10.9 MB): The guide, designed for educators to walk their students through test day, provides information about:
- The AP Exam e-ticket
- Five steps to take before test day
- Understanding the test day experience
- Exam scores, credit, and placement
- 2020 AP Exam Day Checklist (.pdf/526 KB): Teachers should have their students complete this checklist for each exam they take and keep it next to them while testing.
- Explainer Videos: New videos are available to give students quick, easily accessible information about their test day experience, what they need to do to prepare, exam security, and more. Explore the playlist.
Other Reminders
AP Exam Demo (available May 4): AP students should use the clickable exam demo to practice the different ways to submit their exam responses. The demo will help students confirm that their testing device will be able to access and run the online exam. If they can’t access the demo, the final slide of the Testing Guide can help them troubleshoot. The sample content in the demo will be the same for all users and isn’t a practice exam. We’ll send educators and students an email to remind them when the demo is available. Please encourage your students to take this important preparation step.
- Educator Webinars: Trevor Packer, the head of the AP Program, will walk participants through the 2020 AP Testing Guide. AP staff will answer questions during the presentation. This series of webinars includes:
- Online AP Classes and Review Sessions prep week: The week before exams, online AP classes will focus on the exam day experience and sample exam questions.
- Student Outreach: If any of your students are having difficulty receiving College Board emails, walk them through the steps on the “Confirm your email address” page.
- Information for AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish Language and Culture Exams:
- The above exams will be administered using a new dedicated app, the AP World Languages Exam App. Students taking these exams must use this app on smartphones or tablets. This free app will be available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store the week of May 11. We’ll email students and their teachers to let them know when the app is available to download. Visit our site for more details.
A video walk-through of the test-taking experience will be available the week of May 4.
- Details on accommodations for the above exams are also now available.
- If your students are unsure about accessing the app, or if they don’t have a device, they can fill out this survey (or you can complete it on their behalf) as soon as possible so we can help support them (applicable to U.S. and U.S. territories).
Thank you for all that you’re doing for your students.
Sincerely,
Advanced Placement Program
General Information from the College Board
The previous announcement of March 20, 2020 from the College Board with details on the exam and what is and is not covered is here.
The College Board’s full email of April 3, 2020 is here.
A video of Trevor Packard’s online discussion on Thursday April 2, 2020 is here.
Video of the webinar for Math and Computer Science Teachers from April 14, 2020 is here.
The announcement regarding the exams published April 3, 2020 is here. Scroll down to the calculus sections for full exam details. Highlights are below.
The College Board’s Coronavirus Update page is here with information for teachers and students. This includes a FAQ page.
AP Calculus AB and BC
The AB exam will cover only Units 1 – 7 of the 2019 Course and Exam Description (NOT Unit 8)
The BC exam will cover only Units 1 – 8, and Unit 10 topics 2, 5, 7, 8, and 11 of the 2019 Course and Exam Description (NOT Unit 9 or Unit 10 topics 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13,14, and 15).
The format will be two free-response questions.
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- The first multi-focus free-response question counts 60% and assess knowledge and skills from 2 or more units. Students will be allowed 25 minutes followed by 5 minutes to upload the answers. Once uploaded, students may not return to this question.
- The second multi-focus free-response question counts 40% assess knowledge and skills from 2 or more units. Students will be allowed 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes to upload the answer.
- Questions on the 2020 AP Calculus BC Exam are designed such that a graphing calculator or other calculator is not required. However, use of a calculator is allowed. Simple (“four-function”) calculators are freely available as apps for computers and phones (i.e. most or all internet-connected devices), and can be installed beforehand for use on the exam.
- No arithmetic or calculations will be required beyond what can readily be done with pencil and paper. As always, AP Calculus BC students are advised to submit “unsimplified” numeric answers, in order to avoid risking arithmetical errors not related to calculus.
- Accommodations for students who are entitled to them will be allowed. At the moment, I have no information on how this will work. I will edit this if/when I know.
- Video of the webinar for Math and Computer Science Teachers from April 14, 2020 is here.
Other information
Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately. Students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question.
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- Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. They’ll be able to type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a photo via their cell phones.
- For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, plus an additional 5 minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up.
- Again, The announcement regarding the exams published April 3, 2020 is here. Scroll down to the calculus sections for full exam details.
Exam Dates
The AP Calculus Exams AB and BC will be administered online on Tuesday May 12, 2020 simultaneously worldwide, specifically:
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- Eastern time zone at 2:00 p.m.
- Central time zone at 1:00 p.m.
- Mountain time zone at 12:00 noon
- Pacific time zone at 11:00 a.m.
- Alaska time zone at 10:00 a.m.
- Hawai’i time zone at 8:00 a.m.
- Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) 6:00 p.m. (18:00)
Make Up Exams for Calculus will be Tuesday June 2, 2020 at 20:00 GMT (8 p.m.) That’s
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- 4:00 p.m. Eastern,
- 3:00 p.m. Central,
- 2:00 p.m. Mountain,
- 1:00 p.m. Pacific,
- 12:00 noon Alaska
- 10:00 a.m. Hawai’i
Review Links
Links to my review blogs are below. The “type” numbers are not the same as the CED unit numbers. One type may and probably does require knowledge from several of the CED Units.
- AP Exam Review 2020 https://wp.me/p2zQso-286
- Reviewing Resources 2020 https://wp.me/p2zQso-28f
- Rate and accumulation questions (Type 1) https://wp.me/p2zQso-265
- Linear motion problems (Type 2) https://wp.me/p2zQso-269
- Graph analysis problems (Type 3) https://wp.me/p2zQso-26e
- Area and volume problems (Type 4) https://wp.me/p2zQso-26m
- Table and Riemann sum questions (Type 5) https://wp.me/p2zQso-27K
- Differential equation questions (Type 6) https://wp.me/p2zQso-27U
- Other questions (Type 7) https://wp.me/p2zQso-28q
- Sequences and Series questions (Type 10) BC Topic https://wp.me/p2zQso-298
Revised 4/9/2020: Additions and corrections.
Teaching Calculus 