AP Psychology Revisions for 2024-25 – AP Central (2024)

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Learn more about revisions to AP Psychology for the 2024-25 school year.

In 2022, the American Psychological Association (APA) released recommendations for introductory psychology course content and skills. To align with these recommendations and with how college and university instructors in the U.S. teach introductory psychology, we’ve revised the AP Psychology course and exam.

The revisions take effect with the 2024-25 school year (May 2025 exam).

What’s Changing?

Course Revisions

We’ve updated the course framework to simplify the course structure and clarify key terms. Visit Course Revisions for details.

Exam Revisions

We’ve also revised the exam design to assess a wider range of skills in more authentic ways. Visit Exam Revisions for details.

Subject Area Update

To allow for more flexibility and opportunities for college credit, we now list AP Psychology as a science course in addition to a social science course.

Colleges and high schools have long classified psychology as a social science or social studies course, and APA now recommends offering psychology as a science course. Teacher licensure should allow for both subject areas.

Teacher Resources

We recognize this revision was announced relatively close to the start of the fall semester and understand that you may be concerned about preparation time.

To support teacher planning and student learning, we’re adding free resources to AP Classroom on a rolling basis.

  • Hundreds of topic questions and progress checks
  • Updated AP Daily videos
  • Comprehensive question bank

What to Expect

  • March 2024: The AP Course Audit opened for 2024-25. Learn how to reauthorize your course.
  • June 2024: AP Summer Institutes (APSIs) began training teachers on the revised course and exam description (CED). 
  • July 2024: We began updating AP Classroom with new progress checks, topic questions, AP Daily videos, and an updated question bank.
  • Fall 2024: AP Psychology teachers start implementing the revised course framework in their classrooms.
  • May 2025: Students take AP Psychology Exams that align with the revised course framework.

Send Us Your Questions

Contact us using this feedback form.

Why did you revise AP Psychology?

The American Psychological Association (APA) recently updated its standards for Introductory Psychology. The revised AP Psychology Course and Exam Description (CED) aligns to the new APA standards.

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Will AP Psychology teachers need to resubmit in the AP Course Audit?

Yes. All new and returning AP Psychology teachers need to complete an AP Course Audit form attestation in 2024-25. They can select one of these three submission options:

  • Adopt a sample syllabus or unit guide
  • Claim an identical syllabus to a colleague who has been authorized for the 2024-25 school year
  • Submit a new or revised course document

For teachers selecting the third option: The original course document should only outline how the course fulfills the curricular requirements and does not need to be the full syllabus used in the classroom. Teachers should not submit syllabi that include classroom management policies.

Information about AP Course Audit requirements, updated sample syllabi, and an updated syllabus development guide are available on the AP Psychology Course Audit page on this site.

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Will there be new AP Classroom resources for the revised course and exam?

Yes. We’re updating AP Classroom resources, including AP Daily videos, progress checks, topic questions, and an updated question bank.

Most of the updated resources became available in July 2024. We’ll add more throughout the school year.

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How will AP Classroom align the existing question bank items with the revised content?

We’ve evaluated and revised question bank items as needed to align them to the revised course and exam. We’ve also developed new question bank items to give students opportunities for formative assessment and retrieval practice for each topic in the course and the types of questions that will appear on the AP Psychology Exam.

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What will happen to the questions and quizzes that teachers created in AP Classroom?

Questions and quizzes created by teachers will stay in AP Classroom. We’ll contact teachers with more information about how to retag their questions and quizzes to the new course framework.

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What professional development opportunities will be available to help teachers prepare for the new content?

AP Summer Institutes and other opportunities for learning and collaboration will be available to teachers to help prepare them for the revised course.

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Will the textbooks we previously used for AP Psychology work with the revised course?

Yes. Existing textbooks adequately address the material needed for the revised course.

Textbook requirements have not changed: students should have access to a college-level introductory psychology textbook that has been published in the last 10 years.

We’ve informed publishers of the changes. They’re working to update their materials to align with the revised course so that schools wishing to purchase textbooks aligned to the changes can do so.

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Who was involved in the revisions?

As with all AP courses, a development committee of experienced educators and college faculty was responsible for revising AP Psychology. The AP Psychology Development Committee also worked with high school teachers and higher education faculty reviewers and consultants.

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Were universities consulted during the revision process, and will they still have the same credit policies?

Universities were consulted during the revision process, and many faculty members were included on the development committee. Almost 100 college and university faculty participated in a symposium where they shared input on the framework and exam design. We expect these revisions will preserve current credit and placement policies and create opportunities to broaden them.

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Resources

Download

AP Psychology Course and Exam Description

This is the core document for the course, revised for the 2024-25 school year.

  • PDF
  • 2.61 MB

See the Revised Course and Exam Description

Download the CED

Related Topics

See the Revised Course and Exam Description

Download the CED

Related Topics

AP Psychology Revisions for 2024-25 – AP Central (2024)

FAQs

What percent correct is a 5 on AP Psych? ›

Many students ask, “What percentage is a 5 on the AP Psychology exam?” As you can see from the table above, scoring around 75% on the AP Psych exam at that time would have translated to getting that coveted 5!

How was the AP Psych exam 2024? ›

Highlights of the Revised AP Psychology Exam

The exam will have fewer multiple-choice questions, and multiple-choice questions will have 4 answer choices instead of 5. The exam will include 2 new free-response questions (FRQs) that more authentically assess a diverse set of skills.

What percentage is a 4 on the AP Psychology exam? ›

Understanding the scoring for AP exams can be a bit tricky since it's not just about the percentage correct but also about how the scores are scaled each year. However, a rough estimate for a 4 on the AP Psych exam is typically around 65-75% of the total possible points. Remember, they grade on a curve!

How many questions do you need to get right to pass the AP Psych exam? ›

According to the AP® Psychology score calculator provided by Albert (previewed below), you will need to answer 53 of the 100 multiple-choice questions correctly and score at least 4 of the 7 possible points on each of the two free-response questions.

Is a 75% on the AP exam a 5? ›

Usually, a 70 to 75 percent out of 100 translates to a 5. However, there are some exams that are exceptions to this rule of thumb. The AP Grades that are reported to students, high schools, colleges, and universities in July are on AP's five-point scale: 5: Extremely well qualified.

How many people got a 5 on AP Psych 2024? ›

2024 Score Distributions‌: History & Social Science
Exam53+
AP Psychology18%61%
AP United States Government & Politics24%73%
AP United States History13%72%
AP World History12%64%
6 more rows

How many people failed AP Psych? ›

AP Psychology

With a reputation as one of the easiest AP classes, it comes as no surprise that AP Psychology is also one of the most popular—292,501 students took the exam in 2021. Despite the relative ease of this course, students still struggle; just 58.3% of students pass but 17.0% earned a 5.

Is the AP Psych test curved? ›

Curving scores provide a uniform assessment of AP® Psychology students. As we mentioned, the exams change slightly every year and have different average scores. The curve ensures that students taking a harder version of the exam are not underestimated compared to students taking the exam at other times.

Is AP Psych just memorization? ›

However, it does require students to be familiar with various theories, terms, and case studies, which can be voluminous. The general consensus is that AP Psychology is conceptually easier than many other science courses but demands a good deal of memorization.

How many people get 5s on AP Psych? ›

AP Psych Score Distribution

In 2023, the mean score of the AP Psych exam was a 2.89. It is more important to consider the overall score distributions, though, which show that an encouraging 59.6% of students scored a 3 or higher. Here's the full breakdown: 9% of students scored a 5.

What units show up most on AP Psych? ›

AP Psychology Units, Topics, and Key Concepts
UnitsWeight
Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology10–14%
Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior8–10%
Unit 3: Sensation and Perception6–8%
Unit 4: Learning7–9%
5 more rows

Is a 4 on AP good for Ivy? ›

Getting a 4 on an AP exam is definitely an accomplishment. As far as reporting your score to Ivy League schools, each school may have a slightly different preference, but generally, a 4 is considered a 'well-qualified' score and should not necessarily hurt your chances.

Are AP exams curved? ›

AP test scores are indeed "curved," but it's more accurate to call it a "scaling process." Instead of a traditional curve that compares your performance to other students' performance, the AP exam scaling process converts your raw score (the number of points you earned through multiple-choice questions and free- ...

Is AP Psych a hard AP? ›

AP Psychology is widely considered one of the easier AP courses, with a difficulty rating of 3.5 out of 10 from class alumni. This makes it the second easiest out of all AP classes surveyed. The pass rate is around 60% and 17% of students earn top scores of five on the exam.

What is the shortest AP exam? ›

Hey there! I'd be happy to help you with your question about AP exams. The shortest AP exams are typically those without essays, and as of the last few years, the AP Physics C: Mechanics exam has been the briefest. It's only 90 minutes long, consisting of multiple-choice questions followed by free-response questions.

What percent correct is a 5 on AP stats? ›

For students aiming to secure a 5 on the AP Statistics exam, an estimated objective is to obtain between 75% and 80% of the maximum possible points on the test.

What percentage of AP scores are 5? ›

As you can see, while at least 5% of test takers scored a 5 on each AP exam, the perfect scores are teeny, teeny, teeny percentages.

What percent correct is a 5 on AP Gov? ›

What percent is a 5 on an AP Gov Exam? Students have to score an 80% or above to get a 5 on the exam. This would be scoring 96 or more points out of 120 on the test.

What is a 5 on the AP exam out of 100? ›

This means a range of composite scores for each scaled score. For instance, to get a 5, the student might have earned a composite score of anywhere between 110-150. As scaling varies yearly, no exact cutoff points for the AP test scores have been assigned. The College Board does not release detailed scoring data.

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