AP Computer Science Principles Exam
Help with your AP CSP Exam Preparation
AP CSP Exam Dates 2025
AP CSP DATES
The AP CSP Exam date is Thursday May 15th 2025
Submit the Create Performance Task deadline is Wednesday April 30th 2025
AP CSP EXAM FORMAT
70 questions – 2 hour
57 multiple choice questions – single answer
8 multiple choice questions – multiple answers
5 multiple choice questions – about a reading passage
70% exam – 30% create performance task
Latest Article: Practice Questions for the AP CSP Exam
AP Computer Science Principles is one of the Digital AP Exam Subjects (as stated on ‘key facts about digital AP exams‘). But digital exams were optional in 2024 as schools could opt to offer exams as digital, on paper, or a combination of paper and digital. [4]
**BIG CHANGES IN THE WRITTEN RESPONSE** – the exam and create task are mostly the same but there is a big change with the written response moved to an hour slot with the exam – we will update you on the details
(see AP CSP Create Task and Exam Changes)
AP CSP Exam Performance (in 2024)
1 or 2 score 32% --- 3 score 33% -- 4 or 5 score 35%
- About a third got either a 1 or 2 score,
- about a third of students got a score of 3,
- and the remaining third received either a 4 or a 5 mark
- Only 1 in 9 students got a 5 score (11%)
- 65% of students got a pass grade (3 or higher)
- 2/3 of the AP subjects got a higher pass percentage than the AP CSP course (26/39 subjects)
see below for previous results
Scores obtained form the College board official site: AP Score Distributions
Computer Science Principles
Exam Preparation
Free short courses
We have designed 15 to 20 minute courses to help students prepare for the AP Computer Science Principles Exam.
- The Digital World
- The Internet and Networks
- Programming, Coding & Logic
- Algorithms
See below for details (free short courses)
30 day challenge
During the month of April we provided a short video every day to help students prepare for the AP Computer Science Principles Exam.
This includes practice questions on the Internet and Networks, programming, logic, data, algorithms, and general Computing.
There are two years of the 30-day challenge:
There is a web page with example practice questions at APCSP Exam Practice.
courses for AP CSP exam prep
SHORT COURSES
These 15 to 20 minute courses include practice questions to help determine your strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of the AP Computer Science Principles course.
Short courses on the Digital World
Short courses on Algorithms
LONG COURSES
These full courses include programming in python for the AP Computer Science Principles course.
Computer Science Principles and Python
We have an online course at Udemy to help students to prepare for the Computer Science Principles Course.
The course covers both the principles of Computer Science and python programming covered in the Advanced Placement AP CSP course.
AP CSP score calculator
AP Computer Science Principles exam score calculator table
The ap csp exam score calculator table shows the final exam marks required for each of the scores for the create performance task. There are 70 questions in the exam.
The 5 colors represent to 5 scores in the AP CSP course. These are calculated using your create task score (zero to six, see the bottom of the table), and the amount of correct answers from the 70 questions in the ap cso test.
These scores are calculated from the most up-to-date source on the internet [5]. If you feel they are not accurate, or know of a better source then let us know please.
How to score a 5 in APCSP
How to score a 5 in AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP)
To get a 5 in computer science principles (AP CSP), if you get a perfect score of 6 in the create performance task, would require 60 or more questions correctly answers in the exam.
A score of 5 for the task would require at least 65, a task score of 4 needs 56+, and a task score of 4 requires all 70 correct answered questions in the exam.
How to score a 4 in APCSP
How to score a 4 in AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP)
A create performance task score of 6 would require 51 or more questions correctly answers in the exam for an AP CSP score of ‘4’.
A score of 5 for the create task would require at least 56, a task score of 4 needs 61+, and a task score o 3 requires 66 or more correct answered questions in the exam.
How to score a 3 in APCSP
How to score a 3 in AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP)
If you get a ‘6’ in the create task, then you would only need 32 or more questions correct in the apcsp exam to get the overall level of ‘3’ for the ap csp course.
Create performance task scores of 5 or 4 would require either 37or over (5), or 42 or over (4) in the exam.
Whilst create performance task scores of 3, 2 or 1 would require either 47 or over (3), 52 or over (2), or at least 57 in the exam (1). You will need to score 62 or over if you get a zero (0) in the create task if you want an overall grade of ‘3’.
AP CSP downloads
AP CSP Exam Preparation Documents
exam reference sheet (pseudo code)
The vocabulary in alphabetical order is available on this web page: ap csp vocabulary or as in the big ideas listed in a pdf file here: vocabulary (pdf)
College Board Documents
the student handout includes information and guidelines for the create performance task and the exam reference sheet
the course and exam description was effective from 2020 and includes sample exam questions and the create performance task guidelines
Students need to read both the guidelines and instructions. These are in the college board documents above (e.g. student handout, exam description)
AP CSP Exam Practice Questions
- 2021 set #2 ap csp practice questions
- 2021 set #1 ap csp practice questions
- ap csp exam practice questions – old set #1
- ap csp exam practice questions – old set #2
tips & results
AP CSP Create Performance Task Tips
- your video must not contain voice narration (text captions are encouraged) *
- use an explicit parameter *
- lists have to have more than one element
- try to explain the use of your list so the marker understands its use in the program
- you only need to call the procedure once, but in testing it is good if you use different values *
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCM3cFBBJvo at 2.35 for talking on your video
- explicit parameters are defined in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCM3cFBBJvo at 15.20
- e.g. call 1 gives a True output, call 2 gives a False output
AP CSP Exam Results
AP Computer Science Principles Student Score Distributions - Global AP Exams from May 2019 to May 2024
Percentages of passes at each exam score
exam score | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
5 | 11 | 12 | 11.4 | 13 | 10.8 | 14 |
4 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 23.3 | 21 |
3 | 33 | 33 | 31.1 | 32 | 36.6 | 37 |
2 | 21 | 20 | 19.9 | 20 | 17.5 | 19 |
1 | 14 | 12 | 16.6 | 13 | 11.8 | 9 |
Scores obtained form the College board official site: 2024 AP Score Distributions
questions and answers
What time is the AP CSP exam in 2025?
Wednesday, May 15 at 12 midday local time
(confirmed at AP Computer Science Principles website)
When is the deadline to submit your Create performance task in 2025?
April 30, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET), is the deadline to submit your Create performance task as final.
(confirmed at AP exam dates)
When are the AP CSP results?
AP scores came out in early July last year. The exact date will be given here when it is released.
What time is the AP CSP exam?
The AP Computer Science Principles Exam is on Wednesday, May 15, 2025, normally at midday (12pm) local time in the US, although the Create Performance Task submission is earlier.
What is the AP Computer Science Principles exam format?
The AP Computer Science Principles Exam is worth 70 percent and the Create Performance Task is worth 30 percent of the course marks.
How many questions are on the AP CSP exam?
There are 70 questions in the AP Computer Science Principles Exam
How long is the AP CSP exam?
The AP Computer Science Principles Exam is 2 hours long. This includes the multiple-choice section and not the Create Performance Task which is completed outside of this time.
How do you score a 5 on AP CSP?
To score a 5 for the AP Computer Science Principles course you must score at least 70 points of combined create performance task (5 points per level) and final exam (1 point per question). The following combined scores are awarded a 5 for AP CSP:
- 6 in create task + 40 or more in final exam
- 5 in create task + 45 or more in final exam
- 4 in create task + 50 or more in final exam
- 3 in create task + 55 or more in final exam
- 2 in create task + 60 or more in final exam
- 1 in create task + 65 or more in final exam
- 0 in create task + 70 or more in final exam
How do you get a 5 on AP CSP?
You can get a 5 on the AP Computer Science Principles course by preparing for, and completing the 2 hour multiple choice exam, and by completing the Create Performance Task according to the rubrics.
What percent is a 5 on the AP Computer Science Principles exam?
The percentage of students that received a 5 score on the AP Computer Science Principles course was 12% (2023), 11.4% in 2022, and 12.4% in 2021.
How much is the create task worth now?
The AP Computer Science Principles Exam is worth 70 percent and the Create Performance Task is worth 30 percent of the course marks.
Is the AP CSP exam hard?
The AP Computer Science Principles Exam is not harder than other exams, such as other AP course exams, according to previous students, but it strongly advisable that students adequately prepare for the exam.
Is AP CSP easy?
The AP Computer Science Principles course is rated as one of the easiest AP classes by previous students, although the percentage of students that received a 5 score on the AP Computer Science Principles course in 2023 was only 12%.
Changes involving the Create Performance Task
The create task and the end-of-course exam were previously completely separate but not anymore.
If you are planning to take the ap computer science principles course and exam then be aware of the new structure changed in 2024.
The create task still involves making a video and the code from when you develop a computer program, but the written response is now during the final exam.
So the final exam still has the multiple choice questions over 2 hours, but now there is an additional hour where students will b asked questions about the create task.
So to prepare for the exam students can take screen shots of their code that they can then use to help remember what they did during the new hour written response during the final exam.
For more information see the changes for the ap csp create task.
AP Computer Science Principles Course
AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) is an advanced placement course offered by the College Board.
The course covers fundamental concepts in computing, computer systems, and the impact of computing on society.
Students learn computational thinking practices to create computer programs and explore computing innovations.
AP CSP Exam Preparation
To prepare for the AP exam, students can take practice tests and exams provided by the College Board.
The practice questions cover the content of the course, helping students familiarize themselves with the exam format.
A reference sheet (see downloads above) is available during the exam to assist students in solving problems and writing code.
The exam is scored on an AP scale, and the overall AP score determines whether students earn college credit.
Exam Format
- 70 multiple-choice questions (2 hours)
- written response (1 hour)
References
[1] Exam dates: College Board AP Exam Dates
[2] Submit create task: College Board submit AP CSP work
[3] Official College Board AP CSP Exam webpage AP Computer Science Principles Exam (College Board)
[4] College Board AP Score Release
[5] AP® Computer Science Principles Score Calculator Tools & calculators